National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration

George C. Marshall Space Flight Center

Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama 35812

NASA/TM–1998-208418

ANNUAL

REPORT

NASA ’S MICROGRAVITY RESEARCH PROGRAM
4

1 2 3

iii

1 Biotechnology

Crystals of recombinant human insulin grown in microgravity are much larger than crystals of the protein

grown on Earth. Insulin is a protein that enables our

bodies to turn sugar, starches, and other food into energy.

Understanding insulin’s molecular structure may lead 

to better treatments or even a cure for diabetes.

2 Combustion Science

In microgravity, candle flames appear very different

than they do on Earth — the reduction in buoyancyinduced convective flows results in a spherical, soot-free,

blue flame. In contrast, convective flows created by

Earth’s gravity cause a flame to be teardrop-shaped 

and carry soot to the flame’s tip, turning it yellow.

3 Fluid Physics

In microgravity, when a liquid is heated from the bottom

until it reaches its boiling point, bubbles of heated gas

stay attached to the container near the source of heat

longer and grow larger than they would on Earth,

where small bubbles of heated gas form near the bottom

of the container and are carried to the top by buoyancyinduced convection.

4 Fundamental Physics

A sample of liquid helium in microgravity experiences a

uniform distribution of pressure throughout. However,

in Earth’s gravity, the same sample experiences a

nonuniform pressure distribution, with the pressure at

the bottom of the sample greater than that at the top.

Microgravity conditions enable scientists to more 

effectively probe the underlying physics of the phase

change from liquid helium to superfluid helium, which 

is directly dependent on temperature and pressure. The

uniform pressure in the microgravity sample allows the

entire sample to undergo the phase change at once.

5 Materials Science

Dendrites are microscopic crystalline structures that form

as some molten materials, including metals, solidify. Here,

dendrites of pivalic acid form from melted material.

Under microgravity conditions, the tip of the dendrite is

larger and more blunt, and the sample grows more slowly

than the Earth-based sample. While the side branches 

of the sample grown in microgravity grow only slightly,

those in the Earth-based sample experience augmentation

as gravity helps transport heat out of the way of the

growing branches.

On the cover...

Descriptions of the cover

photographs are given

below. Samples produced

in microgravity are

shown on the top; Earthbased samples are shown

on the bottom.

5
v

NASA Continued to Build a Solid Community 

of Microgravity Researchers for the Forthcoming

International Space Station Era

During fiscal year (FY) 1997, the Microgravity Research

Program selected investigations from the 1996 biotechnology,

fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science NASA

Research Announcements (NRAs). The NRA in combustion 

science will be released in early FY 1998. Principal investigators (PIs)

chosen from these NRAs will form the core of the program at 

the beginning of the International Space Station (ISS) era.

The approximately $105 million research budget supported

the work of 329 PIs whose research was published in 576 journal

articles and addressed in 647 technical presentations. The release of

the National Research Council’s review of microgravity research

in support of NASA’s Human Exploration and Development of

Space (HEDS) enterprise confirmed that microgravity research

has an important role to play in the success of future exploration

missions. In preparation for supporting HEDS, the Microgravity

Research Division began to focus its research efforts on HEDS goals.

Continuing Strides Were Made in Interagency,

International, and Intergovernmental Cooperation

Cooperation with the National Institutes of Health (NIH)

continued to address the technical challenges of three-dimensional

tissue growth, crystallization of high-quality protein crystals, and

early detection of cataracts through the support of multidisciplinary

research teams. These teams allow some of the best American

scientists and bioengineers to address complex problems and 

accelerate technology development and transfer. Through

NASA-NIH cooperation, NASA has funded 28 research proposals

and has also supported NIH-approved researchers to test tissue

samples in NASA bioreactors at Johnson Space Center.

Data from microgravity research equipment on the Russian

space station, Mir, continue to be analyzed by NASA microgravity

scientists and engineers in preparation for operation of the 

ISS. Planning for ISS facilities continued with respect to the

Biotechnology Facility, the Fluids and Combustion Facility, the

Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics Facility, and the newly

planned Materials Science Research Facility and Microgravity

Science Glovebox facility. 

Letters of agreement with Japan, Canada, and Germany have

improved the research facilities available to U.S. microgravity

researchers. Japan’s Large Isothermal Furnace (LIF), Canada’s

Microgravity Isolation Mount (MIM), and Germany’s electromagnetic containerless processing facility (TEMPUS) are important

resources for investigations in the Microgravity Research Program.

The First Microgravity Science Laboratory 

Mission and Other Space Shuttle Missions Yielded

Significant Results for Microgravity Investigations

The first Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL–1) mission

and its reflight (MSL–1R), as well as several Space Transportation

System (STS) missions to Mir, yielded a wealth of microgravity

data in FY 1997. MSL–1 and MSL–1R included the Middeck

Glovebox facility, designed to support experiments that require

isolation from the shuttle or space station environment while

allowing crewmembers to conduct small-scale investigations and

manipulate hardware and materials. Also on the MSL missions,

four important pieces of hardware supported biotechnology

experiments in protein crystallization and tissue culture: the

Protein Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity, the SingleLocker Thermal Enclosure System, the Second-Generation

Vapor Diffusion Apparatus, and Hand-Held Diffusion Test

Cells. FY 1997 STS missions carried multiple experiments

that were conducted in three internationally developed facilities —

LIF, MIM, and TEMPUS — thus broadening the opportunities

for international cooperation in space research. 

The Microgravity Research Program Expanded

Education and Outreach Activities

Microgravity News, which provides quarterly updates on

NASA’s Microgravity Research Program, reached increasing

numbers of people in the past year. The total distribution of each

issue of the newsletter reached over 9,000 for calendar year 1997.

Progress continued in FY 1997 on the Microgravity Research

Program World Wide Web sites, part of an ongoing effort to

integrate numerous microgravity web pages.

Through NASA’s Graduate Student Research Program, seven

graduate students received funding to perform ground-based

microgravity research in FY 1997, supporting a commitment to

encourage the next generation of microgravity researchers. More

than 10,000 each of microgravity science educational posters,

teacher’s guides, and supplementary curricular materials were

distributed at various conferences. Also, over 1,400 teachers

requested that they be added to the microgravity education and

outreach mailing list. This brought the total number of educators

on the mailing list to 3,321 (including 726 kindergarten and 

elementary, 826 middle school, 1,473 high school, and 296 

other educators).

The ongoing challenge faced by NASA’s Microgravity

Research Program is to work with the scientific and 

engineering communities to secure the maximum return from 

our nation’s investments by (1) assuring that the best possible 

science emerges from the science community for microgravity

investigations; (2) ensuring the maximum scientific return from

each investigation in the most timely and cost-effective manner;

and (3) enhancing the distribution of experiment data and 

application of results to maximize their benefits.

Executive Summary
vii

Table of Contents

1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Program Goals for FY 1997. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

3 Program Approach for FY 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Program Overview

4 Microgravity Research Conducted in FY 1997. . . . 8

Biotechnology

Combustion Science

Fluid Physics

Fundamental Physics

Materials Science

5 Acceleration Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

6 Technology and Hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

7 Education and Outreach Activities. . . . . . . . . . . . 46

8 Program Resources for FY 1997 . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

9 For More Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

10 Abbreviations and Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52
Table 1 FY 1993–1997 research task summary: overview information and statistics

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

1

This fiscal year (FY) 1997 annual report describes key 

elements of the NASA Microgravity Research Program (MRP) 

as conducted by the Microgravity Research Division (MRD)

within NASA’s Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences and

Applications. The program’s goals, approach taken to achieve

those goals, and available resources are summarized. A 

“snapshot” of the program’s status at the end of FY 1997 and 

a review of highlights and progress in ground- and flightbased research are provided. Also described are major space 

missions that flew during FY 1997, plans for utilization of 

the research potential of the International Space Station, the

Advanced Technology Development (ATD) Program, and 

various educational/outreach activities. The MRP supports 

investigators from academia, industry, and government research

communities needing a space environment to study phenomena

directly or indirectly affected by gravity.

Natural extensions of traditional Earth-based laboratory 

science, the experiments conducted under the MRP benefit from

the stable, long-duration microgravity environment available 

on orbiting spacecraft. The microgravity environment affords

substantially reduced buoyancy forces, hydrostatic pressures, 

and sedimentation rates, allowing gravity-related phenomena 

to be isolated and controlled, and permitting measurements to 

be made with an accuracy that cannot be obtained in groundbased laboratories.

Introduction 1

Number of principal investigators

Number of co-investigators

Number of research tasks

Total number of bibliographic listings

■ Proceeding papers

■ Journal articles

■ NASA technical briefs

■ Science/technical presentations

■ Books/chapters

Number of patents applied for or awarded

Number of students funded

Number of degrees granted based

on MRD-funded research

Number of states with funded research

(including District of Columbia)

FY MRD Budget ($ in millions)

FY 1993 FY 1994 FY 1995 FY 1996 FY 1997

196 243 290 358 329

268 252 287 396 375

243 316 347 508 414

767 944 1,200 1,573 1,428

110 145 140 237 177

446 371 526 600 576

6 13 11 14 10

201 391 509 706 647

5 24 14 16 18

71 124

329 434 534 780 748

61 125 178 247 243

32 36 34 35 36

179.3 188 163.5 159 105.3
Table 2 Microgravity research tasks and types by fiscal year

(responsibilities by center) 

1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Jet Propulsion Laboratory 29 27 28 45 23 7 7 5 7 5 3 3 3 3 3 39 37 36 55 31

Johnson Space Center 11 10 34 32 42 1 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 12 10 35 34 44

Langley Research Center 5 3 3 2 0 2 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 8 5 5 3 1

Lewis Research Center 87 131 125 203 137 29 35 32 46 40 5 5 6 6 7 121 171 163 255 184

Marshall Space Flight Center 36 62 76 124 117 25 25 25 32 31 2 4 6 4 5 63 91 107 160 153

Goddard Space Flight Center 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1

Research Task Totals 168 233 266 406 319 64 69 65 87 78 11 13 16 15 17 243 315 347 508 414

Center Ground Flight ATD Center Totals

2

The Microgravity Research Program supports both basic and

applied research in five key areas:

• Biotechnology — focusing on macromolecular crystal growth

as well as the use of the unique space environment to assemble

and grow mammalian tissue.

• Combustion science — focusing on the processes of ignition, 

flame propagation, and extinction during combustion of 

gaseous, liquid, and solid fuels, and on combustion synthesis 

in a low-gravity environment.

• Fluid physics — including aspects of fluid dynamics and 

transport phenomena affected by the presence of gravity.

• Fundamental physics — including the study of critical 

phenomena; low-temperature, atomic, and gravitational 

physics; and other areas of fundamental physics where significant

advantages exist for studies in a low-gravity environment.

• Materials science — including electronic and photonic materials,

glasses and ceramics, polymers, and metals and alloys.

Experiments in these areas are typically directed at providing

a better understanding of gravity-dependent physical phenomena

and exploring phenomena obscured by the effects of gravity.

Scientific results are used to challenge or validate contemporary

scientific theories, identify and describe new experimental 

techniques that are unique to the low-gravity environment, 

and engender the development of new theories explaining 

unexpected results. These results and the improved understanding

accompanying them can lead to improved combustion efficiency

and fire safety; reduced combustion-generated pollutants; the

development of new technologies in industries as varied as medicine,

chemical processing, and materials processing; the development

or improvement of pharmaceuticals; and the expansion of 

fundamental knowledge in a broad range of science disciplines

destined to become the foundation for scientific and technological

discoveries in the future.

A complementary document to this MRP annual report 

is the Microgravity Science and Applications Program Tasks 

and Bibliography for FY 1997, NASA Technical Memorandum

206645, February 1998. Detailed information on the research

tasks funded by the MRD during FY 1997 is listed in that 

report, which serves as an excellent reference for supplementary

information to this annual report. Also of interest is the NASA

Microgravity Science and Applications Program Strategic Plan,

issued in June 1993, a guide for development and implementation

of the MRP plans and activities to the year 2000. The Marshall

Space Flight Center (MSFC) Strategic Implementation Plan,

January 1996, describes MSFC’s Lead Center role for the MRP.

Another complementary document is NASA’s Microgravity

Technology Report, first published in December 1995, summarizing

advanced technology development and technology transfer activities

through FY 1994. The most recent edition of this report was 

published in 1998.

Table 1 summarizes information from the Microgravity

Science and Applications Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY

1997 that may be of particular interest to the reader. Data for FY

1993–1996 are shown for comparison with FY 1997 statistics.

Table 2 lists the number of research tasks and types performed

at each NASA center for FY 1993–1997.
3

2

Goal 1

Sustain a leading-edge research program focused in the

areas of biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, 

fundamental physics, and materials science that effectively

engages the national research community.

Goal 2

Foster an interdisciplinary community to promote synergy,

creativity, and value in carrying out the research program.

Goal 3

Enable research through the development of an appropriate

infrastructure of ground-based facilities, diagnostic capabilities,

and flight facilities/opportunities, and promote the use of

smaller apparatus.

Goal 4

Promote the exchange of scientific knowledge and technological advances among academic, governmental, and industrial

communities. Disseminate results to the general public and to

educational institutions.

Goal 5

Raise the awareness of the microgravity research community

regarding the long-term direction of the Human Exploration

and Development of Space enterprise, and discuss with the

community the role of microgravity research in support of

agency objectives.

To use the microgravity environment of space as a tool to

advance knowledge; to use space as a laboratory to explore the

nature of physical phenomena contributing to progress in science

and technology on Earth; and to study the role of gravity in

technological processes, building a scientific foundation for

understanding the consequences of gravitational environments

beyond Earth’s boundaries.

—From the Microgravity Research Program’s Mission Statement

During fiscal year (FY) 1997, the Microgravity Research

Program’s lead center for microgravity research was established.

The plan to implement the lead center at Marshall Space

Flight Center was signed by Arnauld Nicogossian, associate

administrator for the Office of Life and Microgravity Sciences

and Applications at NASA headquarters (HQ), and by Wilbur

Trafton, NASA HQ associate administrator for the Office of

Space Flight. The goals listed below were established for the

Microgravity Research Program for FY 1997.

Program Goals for FY 1997 2
4

Program Overview

The Microgravity Research Program (MRP) enables

NASA to meet its mission of advancing and communicating

scientific knowledge; using space for human enterprise; and

researching, developing, verifying, and transferring advanced

space and related technologies by using the low-gravity or

“microgravity” environment of space for research. Specifically,

the MRP performs the following actions:

• Uses the microgravity environment of space as a tool to

advance knowledge.

• Uses space as a laboratory to explore the nature of physical

phenomena, contributing to progress in science and 

technology on Earth.

• Studies the role of gravity in technological processes, 

building a scientific foundation for understanding the 

consequences of gravitational environments beyond 

Earth’s boundaries.

During fiscal year (FY) 1997, the MRP sustained a

leading-edge research program, focused on the areas of

biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental

physics, and materials science, that effectively engaged the

national research community. A unique characteristic 

of the program is the utilization of the NASA Research

Announcement (NRA) to solicit research proposals in the

five science disciplines listed above. As in previous years, 

all investigations selected for funding in FY 1997 were

reviewed by external peer review panels comprised of 

leading experts in each of the five fields of study. This use 

of peer review assures that the research that is proposed and

selected is of the highest caliber and merit and beneficial

to the advancement of the United States. Selections within

each of the five science disciplines range from relatively

low-resource ground-based research, required to advance

analytical and experimental studies, to substantial spacebased experiments, which require the relative absence of

gravity to observe unique phenomena and behaviors typically

masked by the effects of Earth’s gravity.

During FY 1997, NASA continued to work toward 

the completion of investigations selected for funding in

previous years. Additionally, new selections were made 

in biotechnology, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and

materials science. In total, NASA received 657 proposals in

response to the NRAs that were released in 1996. Of those

proposals, 145 researchers were selected in 1997 to receive

grants worth a total of approximately $58 million for 

conducting ground- and space-based research. The breakdown of recipients by discipline is as follows: biotechnology,

36; fluid physics, 39; fundamental physics, 26; and materials

science, 44. Selection of grant recipients in combustion 

science will take place in FY 1998.

As in the past, the Microgravity Research Program 

continued to utilize expert advisory groups to guide and

validate the value and merit of research conducted in

microgravity. The microgravity discipline working groups,

which are responsible for maintaining an overview of the

efforts in the discipline areas of biotechnology, combustion

science, fluid physics, and materials science, continued the

process of identifying the most promising areas for scientific

investigation and the most advantageous approaches for

experimentation, recommending discipline refinements and

science priorities and providing an annual program assessment.

Of particular note was the charter of a working group for

the relatively new field of fundamental physics; the group

held its first meeting in FY 1997. Program content, plans,

and priorities were reviewed periodically by the Microgravity

Research Advisory Subcommittee and the Space Station

Utilization Advisory Subcommittee. These subcommittees

report to the Life and Microgravity Sciences and Applications

Advisory Committee, which reports to the NASA Advisory

Council. Additionally, a special committee was convened at

the request of NASA to assure that the focus of materials

science research aboard the International Space Station

(ISS) was of the highest caliber and merit. This group,

formed under the auspices of the National Research

Council’s Space Studies Board, reviewed and confirmed 

the nation’s need to advance materials science research.

In FY 1997, the Microgravity Research Program 

continued to support its research community through

ground- and space-qualified apparatus, facilities, and 

carriers. In support of the relatively large number of 

analytical and experimental studies requiring a shortduration microgravity environment, ground facilities such 

as drop tubes and drop towers, and carriers such as parabolic

aircraft and suborbital rockets were made available. These

facilities and carriers afford from 2.2 seconds to 12 minutes

of microgravity, allowing researchers relatively low-cost

access to a microgravity environment. To support the spacebased investigations, the program selected the most costeffective option from a broad range of instrumentation,

apparatus, and carriers. Primary carriers utilized to advance

research requiring a longer-duration microgravity environment

included the Space Transportation System (STS) space shuttle

missions and the Russian space station, Mir. Additionally,

work continued toward the development of facilities to 

be housed aboard the ISS, which will allow researchers

continuous access to a microgravity environment. Launch 

of ISS component modules is scheduled to begin in 1998.

3 Program Approach for FY 1997
5

Space Transportation System Program

FY 1997 saw the flight of five space shuttle missions

with significant microgravity experiments aboard: the 

STS-81 mission in January; the first Microgravity Science

Laboratory (MSL–1)/STS-83 in April; the reflight of MSL

(MSL–1R)/STS-94 in July; STS-85 in August; and STS-86

in September. In total, the space shuttle operated for 376

hours in FY 1997, and a number of microgravity investigations

took place during its missions. STS-81 supported one materials

science investigation. MSL–1 and MSL–1R supported 

3 biotechnology investigations, 4 combustion science

investigations, 5 investigations in fluid physics, and 16 

materials science investigations. STS-85 supported one

investigation each in biotechnology, combustion science,

and fundamental physics. The STS-86 mission supported

three investigations in biotechnology, one investigation in

fluid physics, and one materials science investigation. In 

late 1997, the fourth United States Microgravity Payload

(USMP–4) mission flew in support of a number of microgravity

investigations. Details and a summary of experiment results

will be available in the FY 1998 annual report. 

At the request of the Microgravity Research Program

Office, representatives from Marshall Space Flight Center’s

Program Development (PD) organization have been 

investigating alternatives to using the space shuttle for

performing research in a low-gravity environment. With

this goal in mind, PD is actively pursuing non-shuttle 

carriers/launch systems such as balloons; sounding rockets;

X-34s; and commercially available, expendable launch 

vehicles for microgravity payload utilization. It is anticipated

that the results of this study will provide the necessary 

information required to begin planning in FY 1999 for

potential microgravity research use of these carriers. 

Space Station Mir

During FY 1997, the MRP continued to participate in

the NASA/Mir Phase 1 program, with the goals of mitigating

risk in scientific, technological, logistical, and operational

planning for use of the ISS; characterizing the microgravity

environment on Mir; and conducting specific U.S. investigations

in microgravity research disciplines. The MRP continued to

utilize modified space shuttle experiment apparatus, flight

samples, science operations, and data analysis/procedures 

in order to allow U.S. investigators to fully maximize the

capabilities of Space Station Mir.

Mir research and support provided early science 

opportunities during Phase 1 through long-duration 

science investigations conducted aboard Mir, as well as

shorter-duration science investigations on the space

shuttle rendezvous missions to Mir.

In FY 1997, the MRP significantly increased its 

participation in scientific experiments conducted on Mir.

During this period, three investigative facilities were located

on board: the Biotechnology System (BTS), the Microgravity

Glovebox (MGBX), and the Microgravity Isolation Mount

(MIM). Thirteen long-duration investigations were performed

in these facilities. An international cooperative effort was

used to transport payloads to these facilities on Mir, using

both U.S. STS flights and Russian launch vehicles.

During FY 1997, new technology for protein crystal

growth and bioreactors for cell and tissue growth were tested.

Samples were exchanged during shuttle flights to Mir. These

technologies appear to be promising, based on FY 1997 work.

The BTS supported biomedical research during the STS-86

flight of the Biochemistry of Three-Dimensional Tissue

Engineering (BIO-3D) experiment. BIO-3D will help scientists

design successful tissue culture experiments for the ISS and

may also contribute to our fundamental understanding of life

systems while in long-term low-gravity conditions.

One of the first pieces of hardware launched to Mir

was the MGBX. This facility provides work space, filtration,

video recording, lighting, and containment control capabilities

to support a large array of on-orbit investigations. During

the past year, the MGBX provided investigative resources to

support one biotechnology protein crystal growth experiment,

one combustion experiment, and three fluid physics 

experiments. In FY 1997, the MGBX on Mir operated 

for over 1,000 hours.

To extend the MRP’s international cooperation efforts,

the Canadian-sponsored MIM facility was included on Mir.

This valuable piece of hardware was launched on an early

flight to Mir and has provided acceleration isolation for

three experiments: the Canadian Protein Crystallization

Experiment, the Queen’s University Experiment in Liquid

Diffusion, and the Liquid Metal Diffusion experiment. 

The MRP continues to collect data and gain experience

in conducting long-duration space flight operations and

investigations during Phase 1. The knowledge and technique

refinement acquired through various projects will optimize

science planning, development of hardware systems and

supporting operations, and science return for the ISS. Many

lessons have been learned from Phase 1 payload developers

and science teams. These lessons are being analyzed in order

to improve our future ISS processes and our ability to support

a continuous orbiting laboratory.
6

International Space Station

The development of the ISS is laid out in three phases.

Phase 1, which is currently under way, includes up to nine

shuttle-Mir docking missions. Phase 2 will begin with the

launch of the U.S.-funded/Russian-built and -launched

Functional Cargo Block, and will include limited science

capabilities. Phase 3 follows and will involve the completion

of the pressurized volume space and crew accommodations

by integrating the international modules and the U.S.

Habitation Module. 

During FY 1997, the MRP continued development 

of its dedicated research facilities for use aboard the ISS.

The Biotechnology Facility (BTF), targeted for protein

crystallization, tissue culture, and tissue engineering, neared

completion of its definition phase. The BTF is scheduled for

launch and integration in 2003. The Fluids and Combustion

Facility (FCF), designed for a variety of experiments, including

investigations in flame spread, turbulent flow, and condensed

fuel combustion, completed its requirements definition

phase. Launch of the FCF’s components is scheduled to

begin in 2001. The test infrastructure for the LowTemperature Microgravity Physics Facility (LTMPF) 

was completed in FY 1997. The LTMPF, designed for

investigations in fundamental physics, is scheduled to

launch in 2004. The Materials Science Research Facility

(MSRF), which was designed to expand the range of 

materials science investigations possible on the ISS, entered

its accommodations definition phase. Launch of the MSRF’s

components is scheduled to begin in 2001. The Microgravity

Science Glovebox (MSG) completed its preliminary design

review in April and will begin its critical design review in

early FY 1998. The MSG, which was designed to support

investigations in all of the microgravity science disciplines,

as well as some commercial payloads, is scheduled to 

launch in 2000. 

Exploration

The Microgravity Research Program Office (MRPO)

began an effort in late FY 1997 to focus a portion of its

research on supporting the development of new technologies required for human exploration of the Moon and

Mars. This effort was initiated with a microgravity exploration workshop, which included members of the Mars

Exploration Working Group, managed by Johnson Space

Center; the Jet Propulsion Laboratory; and members of the

NASA academic and industrial microgravity research communities. Areas of potential microgravity research were

identified based upon Moon/Mars mission requirements

and technology needs. These research areas have been

translated into performance goals that will define scientific

and resource requirements for implementation in future 

NRAs. Six grants were awarded for investigations selected

from the FY 1996 materials science NRA that will provide

data and scientific information to support the Moon/Mars

exploration effort. In addition, an experiment designed to

characterize dust and soil on Mars during the Mars

Surveyor Program 2001 mission has been initiated.

Cooperative Efforts

National Institutes of Health

The FY 1997 NASA appropriations included 

augmentations for collaborative NASA-National

Institutes of Health (NIH) biotechnology programs. In 

using these funds, NASA emphasized the following areas:

• Continuation of joint NASA-NIH centers to 

accelerate the transfer of NASA technology and 

allow its application to biomedical research.

• Development of advanced tissue culturing technology 

and application of this breakthrough technology to 

biomedical research and developmental biology.

• Development of advanced protein crystal diagnostic 

technologies to advance structural biology and drug 

design to fight a number of diseases.

The NASA-NIH collaboration offers an opportunity 

to address the technical challenges of three-dimensional 

tissue growth, crystallization of high-quality protein 

crystals, and the early detection of cataracts by supporting

multidisciplinary research teams. These research teams

allow the best American scientists and bioengineers to

address these complex problems and accelerate development

of the technologies. For acceleration of the pace of technology

transfer in the biotechnology areas begun under the NASANIH interagency agreement, two multidisciplinary research

centers are currently supported: the Massachusetts Institute

of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Wistar

Institute in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Through NASANIH cooperation, NASA has funded approximately 28

research proposals and has also supported NIH-approved

researchers in testing tissue samples in NASA bioreactors 

at Johnson Space Center. This has proven to be a very

important undertaking in getting researchers to test 

NASA technology and in gaining acceptance in the larger

biomedical community.

During FY 1997, collaborations between NASA and

NIH researchers resulted in the first-ever laser light scattering

investigation of layers of the eye’s lens. Scientist’s observed

that protein cells in the samples varied as a function of the

age of the eye, and they were able to look at a precise image

of protein cells on each layer of the lens. In September, the

Internal Review Board of the NIH’s National Eye Institute 

approved the protocol for studies of cataracts in human

patients using the laser light scattering technique.
7

The MRP also continued collaborative work with the

NIH Laboratory for Structural Biology to develop the next

generation of X-ray diagnostic tools for laboratory use.

Using new technology, early development has shown this

X-ray system to produce a much brighter beam with a 

significant reduction in power use. This cooperative

arrangement will include developing standard manufacturing

processes and infusing this new technology into laboratories

across the country.

National Institute of Child Health and 

Human Development

A cooperative effort continued with the National

Institute of Child Health and Human Development to

transfer NASA’s bioreactor technology for use in AIDS

research. Researchers are using cultures of human tonsil,

lung, adenoid, and lymph node tissues to assess infectivity

of the HIV virus on such tissues. 

Juvenile Diabetes Foundation

In FY 1997, NASA entered into a cooperative arrangement

with the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation to establish the clinical

feasibility of islet cell transplantation, including the ability

to grow and preserve pancreatic islet cells and to transplant

them with various means of protection, including encapsulation.

If successful, restoration of normal blood sugar levels would

mark a significant advance in the treatment of diabetes.

Even though efficient replacement of insulin would not

necessarily “cure” Type 1 diabetes, because the autoimmune

process would continue unabated, progress in this area is

considered a major step.

International Cooperation

Two furnaces for materials science investigations, the

German-designed Electromagnetic Containerless Processing

Facility (TEMPUS) and Japan’s Large Isothermal Furnace

(LIF), flew aboard MSL–1. TEMPUS allows metals to be

cooled to below their freezing points without touching the

walls of the containers housing them. The undercooled 

metals that result from this process exhibit different 

characteristics than metals allowed to solidify without 

interference. These differences can include alterations in 

the strength and brittleness of the material, giving scientists

important clues to understanding the link between structure

and processing on Earth and in microgravity. TEMPUS

supported 10 materials science investigations on MSL–1.

The LIF is a vacuum-heating furnace designed to heat large

samples uniformly. On MSL–1, five experiments measuring

the diffusion coefficients of a variety of materials, including

metals, alloys, and semiconductors, and one investigation 

in liquid phase sintering, were conducted using the LIF. 

For this mission, the furnace was modified to allow 

ground control of the heating and cooling processes so 

that researchers could make real-time changes as their

investigations progressed.

Media Outreach

The MRPO stepped up its efforts to communicate the

results, benefit, and value of microgravity research in FY

1997. Two World Wide Web pages were enhanced to

include more frequent updates on microgravity research.

Microgravity programmatic and science highlights are 

captured respectively on http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov/

and http://science.msfc.nasa.gov/. These pages exhibit data of

interest to the general public and the education community,

as well as the microgravity principal investigator community.

An increased emphasis has also been placed on communicating

the goals and objectives of the MRP by utilizing NASA

media outreach campaigns, which consist of news releases

for the print media, live television interviews via the NASA

satellite, NASA news videos, and continuing microgravity

science briefings on NASA television.
8

4 Microgravity Research Conducted in FY 1997

Biotechnology Overview

Biotechnology is broadly defined as any technology concerned

with research on, and manipulation and manufacture of, biological

molecules, tissues, and living organisms to produce or obtain

products or perform functions. This program uses the microgravity

environment to aid in that research. NASA’s microgravity

biotechnology program is currently active in two major areas:

protein crystal growth and mammalian cell and tissue culture. In

the former area, researchers seek to grow protein crystals suitable

for structural analysis by X-ray diffraction and to understand

how these crystals form. In the second area, investigators study

and evaluate the benefit of low gravity for growing cells and tissues.

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, is

the microgravity biotechnology managing center and provides

direct support for research in protein crystal growth. NASA’s

Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas, provides support for

research in cell and tissue culturing. NASA is also moving ahead

with cooperative activities with the National Institutes of Health

(NIH) and the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, as described in the

“Program Approach” section of this report.

Funding in biotechnology includes financial support for

research centers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

Cambridge, Massachusetts; and the Wistar Institute, Philadelphia,

Pennsylvania. A cooperative program between NASA and the

NIH is continuing for support of research utilizing bioreactor

technology at the NIH’s Institute for Child Health and Human

Development in Bethesda, Maryland. Another cooperative program

with the NIH at the NIH’s Laboratory for Structural Biology is

also continuing. That program is focused on enhancing laboratorybased protein crystallography by improving X-ray diagnostic

technology and transferring that technology to the U.S. 

biotechnology community. 

In the area of protein crystal growth, academic, industrial,

and federal government researchers, armed with advanced

biotechnology techniques and detailed data on the structure 

of key molecules, are creating a new generation of drugs.

Researchers use data on the structure of proteins to design drugs

that will interact with specific proteins and treat specific diseases.

This approach promises to produce superior drugs for a wide

range of conditions, replacing the trial-and-error approach to

drug development that has been the rule for centuries. BioCryst

(Alabama), Bristol-Myers Squibb (New Jersey), DuPont Merck

(Delaware), Eastman Kodak (New York), Eli Lilly (New Jersey), 

Schering Plough (New Jersey), Smith Kline Beecham

(Pennsylvania), Upjohn (Michigan), and Vertex (Massachusetts) 

are working with NASA and NASA-funded researchers to 

produce high-quality protein crystals for new drug development.

The first set of such drugs that have resulted from NASAsponsored research continued to Phase 3 clinical trials — the last

set of trials before a new drug can be approved for general use.

Although not all drugs successfully complete clinical trials, 

progression to this stage indicates progress in bringing NASA

research results to the general public.

A critical step in drug design is identifying and characterizing

the structure of the target molecule. Improving the resolution of

protein molecular structures is a difficult process, but it is one

that the microgravity environment has been able to advance. 

This past year has been the best yet in acquiring such critical

data. More than 17 of the macromolecules grown in space have

revealed information previously unknown regarding their 

molecular structures. Specific examples of advances in the protein

crystal growth area are improved knowledge of the structures 

of the following proteins:

• Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) — an influenza-type

virus that produces serious respiratory infections in infants. 

RSV is responsible for 100,000 to 120,000 hospital admissions

per year and approximately 4,000 infant deaths per year in 

the United States alone.

• Human Antithrombin III — a serine protease inhibitor 

that controls blood coagulation in human plasma. Structural 

data from the NASA program resulted in the first-ever 

imaging of the “active loop” of this molecule. These data 

are crucial to understanding and affecting the function of 

this molecule.

• Nucleosome Core Particle and Histone Octamer —

important molecules in fundamental life processes involving 

the compaction of DNA.

• Glyceraldehyde-3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Complex —

a protein used in the development of a drug targeted for 

treatment of Chagas’ disease.

Growing tissue samples — tissue culturing — is one of 

the fundamental goals of biomedical research. Scientists can use

cancer tumors and other tissues successfully grown outside the

In fiscal year (FY) 1997, researchers in the Microgravity Research Program’s five science disciplines — biotechnology, combustion

science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science — worked to advance human understanding of fundamental physical

phenomena and processes through their investigations, which quantify the effects of and overcome the limitations imposed by gravity.

Ground-based experiments, coupled with experiments selected for flight definition, comprise a compelling and coherent strategy for understanding and using the microgravity space environment. Highlights of research activity in FY 1997 are presented below.
9

body to test and study treatments, like chemotherapy, without

risking harm to patients. Tissues from bioreactors will also offer

important medical insights into how tissues grow and develop in

the body. Other important cell and tissue models under study

include promyelocytic leukemia, human mammary tissue for

research on breast cancer, pancreatic islet cells for research on 

diabetes, liver tissue for research on hepatitis, and human bone

marrow. 

As a result of a NASA Research Announcement and the

associated scientific peer review, 36 new investigations were

selected and funded in FY 1997. This brings the total active

investigator count in biotechnology to more than 80.

Meetings, Awards, and Publications

NASA biotechnology cell science investigators attended 

and presented at the American Society of Cell Biology meeting

in Washington, D.C., in December 1997.

The NASA Biotechnology Protein Crystal Growth

Conference was held in Montreal, Canada. This meeting

addressed fundamental questions in protein crystallization 

for both flight- and ground-based experiments and provided 

an international forum for discussion of research and 

research direction.

The NASA biotechnology cell science investigators working

group meeting was held in Houston, Texas, to discuss results

from the previous year’s research. Over 100 scientists attended.

Research performed in biotechnology cell science was 

considered of such importance that the entire May 1997 issue of 

In Vitro Cellular and Developmental Biology was dedicated to this

work. Twelve manuscripts were included in that issue.

Two patents and one licensing agreement were awarded 

to scientists in the program this year. 

Lawrence DeLucas, of the Center for Macromolecular

Crystal Growth, received the NASA Public Service Medal 

for his contributions to NASA and the nation.

Flight Experiments

The NASA/Mir program once again hosted a long-duration

biotechnology cell science payload. The Biotechnology Specimen

Temperature Controller, a permanent part of the Biotechnology

System on the Russian space station, Mir, supported research

from three different research teams. Included were studies in

neuroendocrine cells by Peter Lelkes, of the University of

Wisconsin Medical School; studies on renal tubular cells by

Timothy Hammond, of Tulane University; and studies on

promyelocytic leukemia cells by Neal Pellis and Thomas

Goodwin, of Johnson Space Center. While flights to Mir are 

primarily designed to develop and validate new technologies in

preparation for the International Space Station, scientific studies,

such as these, have also been performed during those validations.

Results from these experiments are still pending, as the longduration increment continues well into 1998.

J. Milburn Jessup, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical

Center, was able to refly his investigation of the growth of MIP101 colon carcinoma cells in order to confirm the previous results.

This additional information will enable the publication of his

results in a major scientific journal. Growth of such colon cancer

cells and tissue allows the formulation of tumor models that are

valuable in understanding the dynamic interactions that result in

tumor growth and in establishing novel therapeutic strategies.

The protein crystal growth program flew 13 instruments

during FY 1997. Those instruments contained more than 3,000

individual samples of a total of 51 different proteins. Evaluation

of the results from these flights is in varying stages, depending on

the flight date. Structural data returned from these flights will be

used to begin or augment the process of drug design. Seventeen

improvements in molecular structure were realized in FY 1997. 

The FY 1997 biotechnology ground and flight tasks are listed

in Table 3. Further details on these tasks may be found in the

complementary document Microgravity Science and Applications

Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1997, NASA Technical

Memorandum 206645, February 1998.
10

Flight Experiments

Protein Crystal Growth Vapor-Diffusion Flight Hardware and Facility

Daniel C. Carter

New Century Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Huntsville, AL

Protein Crystal Growth in Microgravity

Lawrence J. DeLucas

University of Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

Electrophoretic Separation of Cells and Particles From Rat Pituitary

Wesley C. Hymer

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Growth, Metabolism, and Differentiation of MIP-101 Carcinoma Cells

J. Milburn Jessup

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA

Membrane Transport Phenomena

Larry W. Mason

Lockheed Martin Astronautics, Denver, CO

Enhanced Dewar Program

Alexander McPherson, Jr. 

University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA

An Observable Protein Crystal Growth Flight Apparatus

Alexander McPherson, Jr. 

University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA

Investigation of Protein Crystal Growth Mechanisms in Microgravity

Keith B. Ward

Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC

Ground-Based Experiments

Experimental Assessment of Multicomponent Effects in Diffusion-Dominated

Transport in Protein Crystal Growth and Electrophoresis and Chiral Separations

John G. Albright

Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX

Crystallization Mechanisms of Membrane Proteins

James P. Allen

Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

Novel Concepts in Acoustophoresis for Biotechnology Applications

Robert E. Apfel

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Real-Time Monitoring of Protein Concentration in Solution to Control Nucleation

and Crystal Growth

Mark Arnold

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

The Use of Bioactive Glass Particles as Microcarriers in Microgravity Environments

Portonovo S. Ayyaswamy

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Protein Crystal-Based Nanomaterials

Jeffrey A. Bell

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Expansion and Differentiation of Cells in Three-Dimensional Matrices Mimicking

Physiological Environments

Rajendra S. Bhatnagar

University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA

Searching for the Best Protein Crystals: Synchrotron-Based Mosaicity

Measurements of Crystal Quality and Theoretical Modeling

Gloria Borgstahl

University of Toledo, Toledo, OH

Development of an Insulin-Secreting, Immunoprivileged Cell-Cell Aggregate

Utilizing the NASA Rotating Wall Vessel

Donald F. Cameron

University of South Florida, College of Medicine, Tampa, FL

Quantitative, Statistical Methods for Preflight Optimization and Postflight

Evaluation of Macromolecular Crystal Growth

Charles W. Carter

University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC

Origin of Imperfections in Growing Protein Crystals by In-Situ Rocking Curve

Analysis

Alexander A. Chernov

Universities Space Research Association, 

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Infrared Signatures for Mammalian Cells in Culture

Krishnan K. Chittur

University of Alabama, Huntsville, Huntsville, AL

Microgravity-Simulated Prostate Cell Culture

Leland W. K. Chung

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Noninvasive Near-Infrared Sensor for Continual Cell Glucose Measurement

Gerard L. Cote

Texas A&M University, College Station, TX

A Comprehensive Investigation of Macromolecular Transport During Protein

Crystallization

Lawrence J. DeLucas

University of Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

Development of Robotic Techniques for Microgravity Protein Crystal Growth

Lawrence J. DeLucas

University of Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

Macromolecular Crystallization: Physical Principles, Passive Devices, and

Optimal Protocols

George T. DeTitta

Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Buffalo, NY

The Effect of Microgravity on the Human Skin Equivalent

S. Dan Dimitrijevich

University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, TX

Use of Microgravity-Based Bioreactors to Study Intercellular Communication in

Airway Cells

Ellen R. Dirksen

University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Microgravity Thresholds for Anti-Cancer Drug Production on Conifer Cells

Don J. Durzan

University of California, Davis, Davis, CA

Laser Scattering Tomography for the Study of Defects in Protein Crystals

Robert S. Feigelson

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Role of Fluid Shear on Three-Dimensional Bone Tissue Culture

John A. Frangos

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Table 3 Biotechnology tasks funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1997

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)
11

Microgravity Tissue Engineering

Lisa E. Freed

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Epitaxial Growth of Protein Crystals on Self-Assembled Monolayers

Jonathan M. Friedman

University of Houston, Houston, TX

Protein and DNA Crystal Lattice Engineering

D. Travis Gallagher

Center for Advanced Research in Biotechnology, Rockville, MD

Microgravity-Based Three-Dimensional Transgenic Cell Models

Steve R. Gonda

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

Lymphocyte Invasion Into Tumor Models Emulated Under Microgravity Conditions In Vitro

Thomas J. Goodwin

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

Application of Bioreactor Technology for Analysis and Countermeasure Development

of Microgravity-Induced Suppression of Innate Immunity

Elizabeth A. Grimm

University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Differentiation of Cultured Normal Human Renal Epithelial Cells in Microgravity

Timothy G. Hammond

Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, LA

Production of 1-25-diOH D3 by Renal Epithelial Cells in Simulated Microgravity Culture

Timothy G. Hammond

Tulane University Medical Center, New Orleans, LA

Excitable Cells and Growth Factors Under Microgravity Conditions

Charles R. Hartzell 

Alfred I. DuPont Institute of the Nemours Foundation, Wilmington, DE

Determining the Conditions Necessary for the Development of Functional Replacement

Cartilage Using a Microgravity Reactor

Carole A. Heath

Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Self-Assembly of Hepatocyte Spheroids in Microgravity

Wei-Shou Hu

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

The Effects of Microgravity on Viral Replication

John H. Hughes

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Three-Dimensional Tissue Interactions in Colorectal Cancer Metastasis

J. Milburn Jessup

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA

Use of NASA Bioreactor to Study Cell Cycle Regulation

J. Milburn Jessup

University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, PA

Use of Rotating Wall Vessel to Facilitate Culture of Norwalk Virus

Philip Johnson

University of Texas Medical School, Houston, Houston, TX

Protein Crystallization in Complex Fluids

Eric W. Kaler

University of Delaware, Newark, DE

Fibril Formation by Alzheimer’s Disease Amyloid in Microgravity

Daniel A. Kirschner

Boston College, Chestnut Hill, MA

Applications of Atomic Force Microscopy to Investigate Mechanisms of Protein Crystal

Growth

John H. Konnert

Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC

Regulation of Skeletal Muscle Development and Differentiation In Vitro by Mechanical

and Chemical Factors

William E. Kraus

Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Multidisciplinary Studies of Cells, Tissues, and Mammalian Development in Simulated

Microgravity

Elliot M. Levine

Wistar Institute, Philadelphia, PA

Analysis of Electrophoretic Transport of Macromolecules Using Pulsed Field Gradient NWR

Bruce R. Locke

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Quantitative Analysis of Surfactant Interactions During Membrane Protein Crystallization

Patrick J. Loll

University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA

Ground-Based Program for the Physical Analysis of Macromolecular Crystal Growth

Alexander J. Malkin

University of California, Riverside, Riverside, CA

Thyroid Follicle Formation in Microgravity: Three-Dimensional Organoid Construction

in a Low-Shear Environment

Andreas Martin

Mount Sinai Medical Center, NewYork, NY

Biological Particle Separation in Low Gravity

D. James Morré

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Continuous, Noninvasive Monitoring of Rotating Wall Vessels and Application to the

Study of Prostate Cancer

David W. Murhammer

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Diffusion, Viscosity, and Crystal Growth of Proteins in Microgravity

Allan S. Myerson

Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY

Insect Cell Cultivation in Simulated Microgravity

Kim O’Connor

Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

Shear Sensitivities of Human Bone Marrow Cultures

Bernhard O. Palsson

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Microgravity and Immunosuppression: A Ground-Based Model in the Slow-Turning

Lateral Vessel Bioreactor

Neal R. Pellis

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

Fluorescence Studies of Protein Aggregation in Under- and Oversaturated 

Solutions

Marc L. Pusey

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Isolation of the Flow, Growth and Nucleation Rate, and Microgravity Effects on Protein

Crystal Growth

Marc L. Pusey

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
12

Stem Cell Expansion in Rotating Bioreactors

Peter J. Quesenberry

University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA

Study of Crystallization and Solution Properties of Redesigned Protein Surfaces

David C. Richardson

Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC

Heterozygous Ataxia-Telangiectasia Human Mammary Cells as a Microgravity-Based

Model of Differentiation and Cancer Susceptibility

Robert C. Richmond

Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Lebanon, NH

Nucleation and Convection Effects in Protein Crystal Growth

Franz E. Rosenberger

University of Alabama, Huntsville, Huntsville, AL

Protein-Precipitant-Specific Criteria for the Impact of Reduced Gravity on Crystal Perfection

Franz E. Rosenberger

University of Alabama, Huntsville, Huntsville, AL

Enhancement of Cell Function in Culture by Controlled Aggregation Under Microgravity

Conditions

W. Mark Saltzman

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Use of NASA Bioreactors in a Novel Scheme for Immunization Against Cancer

Cherylyn A. Savary

University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX

Electrohydrodynamics of Suspensions

Dudley A. Saville

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

Microgravity and the Biology of Neural Stem Cells

William J. Schwartz

University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA

Robotic Acquisition and Cryogenic Preservation of Single Crystals of Macromolecules

for X-Ray Diffraction

Craig D. Smith

University of Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

Gastric Mucosal Cell Culture in Simulated Microgravity

Adam J. Smolka

Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC

Influence of Microgravity Conditions on Gene Transfer Into Expanded Populations 

of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells

F. Marc Stewart

University of Massachusetts Medical Center, Worcester, MA

Production of Recombinant Human Erythropietin by Mammalian Cells Cultured in

Simulated Microgravity

Arthur J. Sytkowski

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA

Defects, Growth, and Elastic Properties of Protein Crystals

Robert E. Thorne

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Mechanisms for Membrane Protein Crystallization: Analysis by Small-Angle 

Neutron Scattering

David M. Tiede

Argonne National Laboratory, Argonne, IL

Preparation and Analysis of RNA Crystals

Paul Todd

University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO

Development of Microflow Biochemical Sensors for Space Biotechnology

Bruce Towe

Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ

Experimental Studies of Protein Crystal Growth Under Simulated Low-Gravity

Conditions

Eugene H. Trinh

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Two-Dimensional Protein Crystallization at Interfaces

Viola Vogel

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Two-Dimensional Crystal Growth in Microgravity

Theodore G. Wensel

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Thermal Optimization of Growth and Quality of Protein Crystals

John M. Wiencek

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Thermodynamics of Protein Crystallization and Links to Crystal Quality

John M. Wiencek

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Metastable Solution Structure and Optimization Strategies in Protein Crystal Growth

Lori J. Wilson

East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN

A Rational Approach for Predicting Protein Crystallization

W. William Wilson

Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS

Search for a Dilute Solution Property to Predict Protein Crystallization

W. William Wilson

Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, MS

Novel Microgravity Optical Technique for Molecularly Engineering Electrophoretic Media

Denis Wirtz

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

The Effects of Microgravity/Low Shear on Glycosylation and Eukaryotic DNA Virus

Replication

H. Alan Wood

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Ex-Vivo Hemopoieses in a Three-Dimensional Human Bone Marrow Culture Under

Simulated Microgravity

J. H. David Wu

University of Rochester, Rochester, NY

Liver Tissue Engineering in a Microgravity Environment

Boris Yoffe

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Characterization of Solvation Potentials Between Small Particles

Charles F. Zukoski

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

Particle Interaction Potentials and Protein Crystal Quality

Charles F. Zukoski

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL
13

Combustion Science Overview

Combustion and the results of combustion processes affect each

of us every day. Combustion is responsible for the majority of the

world’s electric power production, home heating, and ground and

air transportation. Combustion by-products are major contributors

to air pollution and global warming. Additionally, unintentional

fires claim thousands of lives and cost billions of dollars in property

damage. Beneficial control of combustion is impeded by a lack of

fundamental understanding of combustion processes. Combustion

research is hampered by the effects of gravitational forces more

than other areas of science, since combustion intrinsically involves

production of high-temperature gases in which low densities trigger

buoyant flows. These flows cause the reaction zone to collapse into

very thin sheet-like regions that are impenetrable by current or

anticipated instrumentation. Conducting experiments in microgravity

eliminates buoyancy and expands the reaction zone to the extent

that measurements can be made. The resulting data are used to

verify combustion theory, validate numerical models, and develop

fresh insight into elemental phenomena, all of which can be

applied to Earth-based combustion processes.

Specific potential benefits that may ensue, in part, from

microgravity combustion research include the following:

• Increased conversion efficiency of chemical energy stored in 

fuels to useful heat and work in combustion devices, leading 

to economic savings, reduced dissipation of scarce fuel reserves, 

and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

• Reduction of combustion-related effluents that pollute 

the atmosphere.

• Reduction of fire and explosion hazards.

• Improved hazardous waste incineration processes.

• Development of improved materials via combustion 

synthesis for use in widely diverse applications such as 

bone replacement, electrical components, and engines.

The microgravity combustion science program, in conjunction

with the combustion science discipline working group, has defined

the following high priority areas for microgravity research and is

supporting research in each area:

Combustion-turbulence interactions: Virtually all practical

combustion devices, except gas stoves, involve turbulent flows.

Microgravity uniquely limits the range of turbulent length and

time scales to those large enough to be tractable experimentally.

Soot processes: Soot is a critical element in many combustion

systems, strongly affecting combustor lifetime, efficiency, peak

power output, and pollution generation. The lack of buoyancyinduced accelerated flows in a microgravity environment results

in longer residence times to investigate primary soot formation,

soot clustering, cluster-cluster agglomeration, and oxidation. 

Diagnostics: Technological improvements in measurement

are a mandate due to historic and valid criticism of the qualitative 

nature of early microgravity experiments and, more importantly,

due to benefits for active control of combustors.

Pressure effects: High pressure and/or supercritical operation

of combustors yields improved thermodynamic efficiency at the

expense of increased pollutant generation. Conventional diesel

engines operate at 50 atmospheres (atm), but most research has

been conducted at near ambient conditions (1 atm). The influence

of buoyancy increases with pressure. 

Benchmark data on laminar flames: Practical devices,

although highly turbulent, operate in the “laminar flamelet”

regime. As such, improvements in understanding laminar flame

structure and associated characteristics have a direct impact on

turbulence modeling.

Spray and aerosol cloud combustion: This type of combustion accounts for 25 percent of the world’s energy use yet remains

poorly understood from both fundamental and practical perspectives. Microgravity not only offers a quiescent, nonbuoyant environment, it also overcomes the problem of droplet settling in a 

1g environment.

Combustion synthesis: Flame-synthesized products include

valuable vapors (e.g., acetylene), ultrafine particles (e.g., fullerenes,

silicon oxides, titanium oxides), coatings (e.g., diamonds), and

monolithic solids (e.g., boron carbide, titanium boride). These

materials are rapidly expanding in breadth of use and value, but

production remains very much an art, rather than a science.

Sedimentation and buoyant plumes lead to short residence times

and interfere with investigation into the mechanisms of material

production. Current research is geared toward interpreting the

differences between normal- and low-gravity processing and

improvement of the product.

Surface flame spread: Large-scale fires and fire spread on

Earth are complicated by buoyancy-fed turbulent processes and

thermal radioactive interactions with surrounding materials, terrain, and building structures. Current models of flame spread

generally omit thermal radiation because of the weakness in

understanding this transport mechanism. Laboratory-scale experiments in microgravity have begun to elucidate the importance of

thermal radiation and indicate that these results might be utilized

in modeling large-scale fires. 

Transient processes in gaseous flames: Microgravity experimentation can provide insights into flame instabilities, such as

ignition, extinction, and imposed perturbations that are often

masked by buoyancy in normal gravity.

Spacecraft fire safety: Models used to study spacecraft fire

safety are still considered “primitive.” Further research is

required in the areas of microgravity flammability, fire spread,

fire and smoke detection, fire suppression, and postfire cleanup. 

Partial-gravity combustion: Combustion issues on the surfaces of the Moon and Mars will include habitat fire safety, waste

incineration, roving vehicle power, and propellant storage safety.
14

Meetings, Awards, and Publications

The fourth International Microgravity Combustion Workshop

was held in Cleveland, Ohio, May 19–21, 1997. Attendance at the

workshop reached a new record of 264 registrants. There were 89

technical presentations and 3 plenary/programmatic presentations;

proceedings were distributed at the conference.

Chung Law, of Princeton University, was selected to receive

the prestigious American Society of Mechanical Engineers Heat

Transfer Memorial Award in Science. The award read, in part, “for

outstanding contributions to heat and mass transfer in chemically

reacting systems, especially on droplet and spray combustion, flame

structure and dynamics, and boundary-layer combustion.” Law,

principal investigator (PI) for the Studies of Flame Structure in

Microgravity investigation, gave special thanks to the microgravity

combustion science program for its support of the work leading

to this award.

A paper titled “Quantitative Rainbow Schlieren Deflectometry”

by Paul Greenberg, Robert Klimek, and Donald R. Buchele was

selected as the NASA Lewis Distinguished Scientific Publication

of the Year. The paper was published in Applied Optics.

Flight Experiments

Fiscal year (FY) 1997 was a banner year for microgravity

combustion science flight experiments. For the second consecutive

year, successful flight investigations were conducted in half the

research topic areas and on all available carriers. Additionally, the

first multiuser combustion facility, Combustion Module-1 (CM-1),

demonstrated design concepts and operation techniques that are

essential to conducting operations on the International Space

Station (ISS). 

The first Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL–1) mission

flew twice in 1997. Although the first flight in April was cut short

due to an orbiter fuel cell problem, three of the four combustion

investigations were operated and all produced publishable data.

After an unprecedented turnaround, the mission reflew in July as

MSL–1R; over 100 fires were set and studied during the reflight.

The Laminar Soot Processes (LSP) and the Structure of

Flame Balls at Low Lewis Number (SOFBALL) investigations

were conducted in the CM-1. CM-1, which is described in more

detail in the “Hardware” section of this report, provided common

laboratory services, such as data processing/storage, command/

communications, containment, and gas management/cleanup to

both investigations. The specific apparatus for each investigation

was easily integrated with CM-1 as an on-orbit procedure. This

type of operation is prototypical of the way combustion science

will be conducted in the Fluids and Combustion Facility on the ISS.

The LSP experiment provided observations of soot processes

within nonbuoyant, nonpremixed flames that are relevant to

practical combustion in aircraft propulsion systems, diesel engines,

and furnaces, but with the flames slowed and spread out to allow

measurements that are not tractable within the practical flames.

Initial analysis of the new measurements suggest the existence of 

universal relationships between soot processes and the degree of 

mixing within nonbuoyant flames. These relationships are known

as the soot paradigm, a controversial hypothesis based upon indirect

observations of practical nonbuoyant flames. If the paradigm proves

to be true, it offers simplified ways to control and model soot

processes in practical flames. The new measurements yielded the

first-ever observations of steady, soot-containing, nonbuoyant

flames both with and without soot emissions. These flames provided textbook examples of soot formation processes in practical

flames that are invaluable for developing methods for controlling

the emissions of pollutant soot.

SOFBALL explores the behavior of newly discovered flame

phenomena called “flame balls.” These spherical, stable, stationary

flame structures, observed only in microgravity, provide a unique

opportunity to study the interactions of the two most important

processes necessary for combustion (chemical reaction, and heat

and mass transport) in the simplest possible configuration. The

preliminary data obtained during the test runs result in the 

following conclusions: 

• Steady, nearly stationary flame balls exist in an extendedduration microgravity environment. 

• The extended length of the burns verifies the theoretical

predictions that these flames evolve on a very slow time 

scale, on the order of hundreds of seconds.

• The flame balls are sensitive to orbiter thruster firings above 

50 micro-g seconds. During free drift periods, the flame balls 

were nearly motionless for many minutes, while the flame balls

moved slightly after vernier thruster firings or water dumps. 

• All the flame balls, regardless of the inert component, number

of flame balls, or pressure, produced 1 to 1.8 watts of radiant 

power, in disagreement with premission predictions.

The Droplet Combustion Experiment (DCE) is designed to

investigate the combustion aspects of single, isolated droplets under

different pressures and ambient oxygen concentrations for a range

of droplet sizes varying between 2 and 5 mm. The DCE runs

during the MSL–1 mission identified three regimes of droplet

combustion. In addition to the well-known quasisteady regime,

in which the squares of both droplet and flame diameters decrease

linearly with time and diffusive extinction of the flames occurs

when the droplet becomes sufficiently small, two previously

undocumented regimes were discovered. For sufficiently large

droplets, there is a regime of radiative extinction in which energy

loss by emission of infrared radiation causes flame extinction during

the initial stage of flame expansion, leaving a large fuel droplet

that slowly vaporizes in the hot gases left behind after combustion

has ceased. At sufficiently high oxygen content, there is a regime

of droplet disappearance in which the flame persists in an outer

transient region after the droplet has vaporized completely. This

flame rapidly contracts at the end of the burn, extinguishing 

diffusively at a nonzero flame radius.
15

The Fiber-Supported Droplet Combustion (FSDC-2) 

experiment studied fundamental phenomena related to liquid

fuel droplet combustion in air. Pure fuels and mixtures of fuels

were burned as isolated single and duo droplets with and without

forced air convection. The FSDC-2 investigation was conducted

in the Microgravity Glovebox facility of the shuttle’s Spacelab

during MSL–1R.

Four sounding rocket flights were conducted in FY 1997.

The Diffusive and Radiative Transport in Fires (DARTFire)

experiment completed its final three flights to investigate flame

initiation, fire spread, and postspread steady-state combustion of

a thick solid-fuel sample under various low-speed oxidizer flows.

Small amounts of radiant heating were imposed on the fuel samples

to determine the effects of this kind of assisted heating of the fuel

sample on flame survivability and spread. DARTFire marks the

first experimental control and measurement of radiative heating

in a microgravity combustion experiment. The imposed radiative

heating is realistic in the sense that nearby burning material provides

radiant heating in both practical and accidental fires. 

The fourth sounding rocket flight for the Spread Across

Liquids (SAL) investigation occurred on September 10, within 

30 minutes of the final DARTFire launch. This dual launch

saved range costs. SAL-4 continued the investigation of flame

spread over a long, deep pool of liquid fuel in an extended-duration,

low-gravity environment. In SAL-4, gas-phase flow visualization

was attempted for the first time, and the smoke tracing systems

performed perfectly. The gas-phase recirculation cell ahead of the

spreading flame could be observed throughout the full fields of

view of every planned camera view, as well as the schlieren view.

Visualization of the vortex by the smoke tracer was sufficiently

high in resolution that rotation rates of the vortex in the cell can

be calculated.

The Solid Surface Combustion Experiment flew for the ninth

time on the 85th Space Transportation System (STS-85) mission.

This flight investigated the behavior of a long, flat polymethyl

methacrylate (PMMA) sample ignited in the “near extinction”

atmosphere of 50 percent oxygen and 50 percent nitrogen at 1 atm

of pressure. The objective of this experiment was to test the theory

that flame spread over thick fuel samples is inherently unsteady

in quiescent environments. In flight, the PMMA sample ignited

normally with a flame that spread at a gradually slower rate. The

flame eventually stopped spreading, receded, then quenched.

This behavior, never before observed experimentally, was predicted

by the PI’s model.

The FY 1997 ground and flight tasks for combustion science

are listed in Table 4. Further details on these tasks may be found

in the complementary document Microgravity Science and

Applications Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1997,

NASA Technical Memorandum 206645, February 1998.

Table 4 Combustion science tasks funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1997

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments

Low-Velocity, Opposed-Flow Flame Spread in a Transport-Controlled Microgravity

Environment

Robert A. Altenkirch

Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Reflight of the Solid-Surface Combustion Experiment With Emphasis on Flame

Radiation Near Extinction

Robert A. Altenkirch

Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Scientific Support for an Orbiter Middeck Experiment on Solid-Surface Combustion

Robert A. Altenkirch

Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Gravitational Effects on Laminar, Transitional, and Turbulent Gas-Jet Diffusion

Flames

M. Yousef Bahadori

Science Applications International Corp., Torrance, CA

Sooting and Radiation Effects in Droplet Combustion

Mun Young Choi

University of Illinois, Chicago, Chicago, IL

Candle Flames in Microgravity

Daniel L. Dietrich

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Investigation of Laminar Jet Diffusion Flames in Microgravity: A Paradigm for Soot

Processes in Turbulent Flames

Gerard M. Faeth

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Unsteady Diffusion Flames: Ignition, Travel, and Burnout

Frank Fendell

TRW Space and Electronics Group, Redondo Beach, CA

Flammability Diagrams of Combustible Materials in Microgravity

A. Carlos Fernandez-Pello

University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Fundamental Study of Smoldering Combustion in Microgravity

A. Carlos Fernandez-Pello

University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Ignition and the Subsequent Transition to Flame Spread in Microgravity

Takashi Kashiwagi

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
16

The High Lewis Number Diffusive-Thermal Instability in Premixed Gas Combustion and

Low-Temperature Hydrocarbon Oxidation and Cool Flames

Howard G. Pearlman

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Studies of Premixed Laminar and Turbulent Flames at Microgravity

Paul D. Ronney

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Ignition and Flame Spread of Liquid Fuel Pools

Howard D. Ross

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Combustion Experiments in Reduced Gravity With Two-Component Miscible Droplets

Benjamin D. Shaw

University of California, Davis, Davis, CA

Combustion of Solid Fuel in Very Low Speed Oxygen Streams

James S. T’ien

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Droplet Combustion Experiment

Forman A. Williams

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Ground-Based Experiments

Effects of Energy Release on Near-Field Flow Structure of Gas Jets

Ajay K. Agrawal

University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

Radiant Extinction of Gaseous Diffusion Flames

Arvind Atreya

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Multicomponent Droplet Combustion in Microgravity: Soot Formation, Emulsions, 

Metal-Based Additives, and the Effect of Initial Droplet Diameter

C. Thomas Avedisian

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Gas-Phase Combustion Synthesis of Metal and Ceramic Nanoparticles

Richard L. Axelbaum

Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Ignition and Combustion of Bulk Metals in Microgravity

Melvyn C. Branch

University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO

Modeling of Microgravity Combustion Experiments — Phase II

John D. Buckmaster

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

A Numerical Model for Combustion of Bubbling Thermoplastic Materials in

Microgravity

Kathryn M. Butler

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Heterogeneous Combustion of Porous Solid-Fuel Particles Under Microgravity: A

Comprehensive, Theoretical, and Experimental Study

H. K. Chelliah

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

Buoyancy Effects on the Structure and Stability of Burke-Schumann Diffusion Flames

L.-D. Chen

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Gravitational Effects on Premixed Turbulent Flames: Microgravity Flame Structures

Robert K. Cheng

Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory, Berkeley, CA

Combustion of Interacting Droplet Arrays in a Microgravity Environment

Daniel L. Dietrich

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Interaction of Burning Metal Particles

Edward L. Dreizin

AeroChem Research Laboratory, The Titan Corp., Princeton, NJ

Internal and Surface Phenomena in Heterogeneous Metal Combustion

Edward L. Dreizin

AeroChem Research Laboratory, The Titan Corp., Princeton, NJ

Flame-Vortex Interactions Imaged in Microgravity

James F. Driscoll

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Aerodynamic, Unsteady, Kinetic, and Heat Loss Effects on the Dynamics and Structure

of Weakly Burning Flames in Microgravity

Fokion N. Egolfopoulos

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Detailed Studies on the Structure and Dynamics of Reacting Dusty Flows at Normal

and Microgravity

Fokion N. Egolfopoulos

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Effects of Gravity on Sheared and Nonsheared Turbulent, Nonpremixed Flames

Said E. Elghobashi

University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA

Soot Processes in Freely Propagating Laminar Premixed Flames

Gerard M. Faeth

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Combustion of Electrostatic Sprays of Liquid Fuels in Laminar and Turbulent Regimes

Alessandro Gomez

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Characteristics of Nonpremixed, Turbulent Flames in Microgravity

Uday Hegde

NYMA, Inc., Cleveland, OH

Three-Dimensional Flow in a Microgravity Diffusion Flame

Jean R. Hertzberg

University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO

Combustion Synthesis of Fullerenes and Fullerenic Nanostructures in Microgravity

Jack B. Howard

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Unsteady Numerical Simulations of the Stability and Dynamics of Flames in

Microgravity

K. Kailasanath

Naval Research Laboratory, Washington, DC
17

Real-Time, Quantitative, Three-Dimensional Imaging of Diffusion Flame Species

Daniel J. Kane

Southwest Sciences, Inc., Santa Fe, NM

Soot and Radiation Measurements in Microgravity Turbulent Jet Diffusion 

Flames

Jerry C. Ku

Wayne State University, Detroit, MI

Studies of Flame Structure in Microgravity

Chung K. Law

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

Chemical Inhibitor Effects on Diffusion Flames in Microgravity

Gregory T. Linteris

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Computational and Experimental Study of Laminar Diffusion Flames in a Microgravity

Environment

Marshall B. Long

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Dynamics of Liquid Propellant Combustion at Reduced Gravity

Stephen B. Margolis

Sandia National Laboratories, Livermore, CA

Structure and Dynamics of Diffusion Flames in Microgravity

Moshe Matalon

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Filtration Combustion for Microgravity Applications: Smoldering, and Combustion

Synthesis of Advanced Materials

Bernard J. Matkowsky

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Combustion of PTFE: The Effect of Gravity on Ultrafine Particle Generation

J. Thomas McKinnon

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

Premixed Turbulent Flame Propagation in Microgravity

Suresh Menon

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Gravitational Influences on Flame Propagation Through Nonuniform Premixed Gas

Systems

Fletcher J. Miller

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

A Fundamental Study of the Combustion Syntheses of Ceramic-Metal Composite

Materials Under Microgravity Conditions — Phase II

John J. Moore

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

Stretched Diffusion Flames in Von Karman Swirling Flows

Vedha Nayagam

Analex Corporation, Brook Park, OH

Flammability Limits and Flame Dynamics of Spherical Flames in Homogeneous and

Heterogeneous Mixtures

Paul D. Ronney

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Flow and Ambient Atmosphere Effects on Flame Spread at Microgravity

Paul D. Ronney

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Combustion of Unconfined Droplet Clusters in Microgravity

Gary A. Ruff

Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA

Quantitative Measurement of Molecular Oxygen in Microgravity Combustion

Joel A. Silver

Southwest Sciences, Inc., Santa Fe, NM

Numerical Modeling of Flame Balls in Fuel-Air Mixtures

Mitchell D. Smooke

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Combustion of Rotating, Spherical, Premixed, and Diffusion Flames in Microgravity

Siavash H. Sohrab

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Diffusion Flame Structure, Shape, and Extinction: Geometrical Considerations

Jose L. Torero

University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD

Interactions Between Flames on Parallel Solid Surfaces

David L. Urban

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Gasless Combustion Synthesis From Elements Under Microgravity: A Study of

Structure-Formation Processes

Arvind Varma

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

Studies of Wind-Aided Flame Spread Over Thin Cellulosic Fuels in Microgravity

Indrek S. Wichman

Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

High-Pressure Combustion of Binary Fuel Sprays

Forman A. Williams

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Laser Diagnostics for Fundamental Microgravity Droplet Combustion Studies

Michael Winter

United Technologies Research Center, East Hartford, CT

Combustion of a Polymer (PMMA) Sphere in Microgravity

Jiann C. Yang

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD
18

Fluid Physics Overview

Fluid physics is the study of the motion of fluids and the

effects of such motion. Since three of the four states of matter

(gas, liquid, and plasma) are fluid, and even the fourth (solid)

behaves like a fluid under many conditions, fluid physics encompasses a wide spectrum of industrial, as well as natural, processes

and phenomena. Fluid motions are responsible for most transport

and mixing that take place in the environment, in industrial

processes, in vehicles, and in living organisms. The ultimate goal

of research in fluid physics is to improve our ability to predict and

control the behavior of fluids in all of the above instances, so as to

improve our ability to design devices and operate them. Fluid

motion in most situations is strongly influenced by gravity. The

low-gravity environment of space offers a powerful research tool

for the study of fluid physics, enabling the observation and control

of fluid phenomena in ways not possible on Earth. Experiments

conducted in this environment have clearly demonstrated the

value of microgravity by revealing results that are either completely

unexpected or unobservable in Earth’s gravitational field. These

results are providing new insight into the behavior of fluids in

terrestrial environments.

The microgravity fluid physics program currently has four

major research areas: complex fluids, interfacial phenomena,

dynamics and instabilities, and multiphase flows and phase

change. There are 71 ground-based and 20 flight/flight definition

principal investigators (PIs) conducting experimental research as

well as developing the theoretical framework for understanding

the effects of gravity on processes involving fluids. Work in 

complex fluids covers colloids, foams, granular media, rheology

of non-Newtonian fluids, and emulsions and suspensions.

Interfacial phenomena include liquid-vapor interface configurations,

contact line dynamics, capillary-driven flows, and the shape stability

and breakup of liquid bridges and drops. Dynamics and instabilities

include thermocapillary and thermosolutal flows, biofluid

mechanics, geological fluid flows, pattern formation, and electrokinetics and electrochemistry. Multiphase flows and phase change

include flow patterns in liquid-vapor/gas flows in microgravity,

nucleate boiling and its control using acoustic and electric fields

in microgravity, and flows of gas-solid and liquid-solid mixtures

in microgravity.

The NASA Research Announcement for microgravity fluid

physics was released in December 1996. A total of 228 proposals

were received in response, showing vigorous interest in microgravity fluid physics in the research community.

Some of the highlights of microgravity fluid physics research

conducted in space as well as on Earth are included below.

• Startling and completely unexpected observations were made

in the physics of colloids when Paul Chaikin and William 

Russell, of Princeton University, discovered that colloidal

crystals nucleate and grow faster in microgravity than in 1 g.

Indications of a possible cause come from a comparison of 

flight and ground dynamic data. These data suggest that 

the characteristic time scales for particle motion and 

rearrangement may be longer in gravity than in microgravity. 

This is completely unexpected, and as such, it deserves further 

investigation. These observations resulted from the Physics 

of Hard Spheres Experiment conducted on the first 

Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL–1) mission on the 

83rd Space Transportation System flight (STS-83) and its 

subsequent reflight on STS-94. Precise light scattering

measurements confirmed what was observed in a prior 

space experiment, Colloidal Disorder-Order Transition: 

that colloidal crystals in microgravity have a random, 

hexagonal, close-packed structure rather than the face-centered

cubic structure predicted by theory (Zhu, et al., Nature 387 

[26 June 1997]). The understanding of phase transitions is 

one of the most important problems in the field of condensed

matter physics today. For this reason, physicists have long 

studied suspensions of simple hard spheres as models of 

phase transformations. These experiments on colloidal 

suspensions conducted in space have provided definitive

conclusions that microgravity provides scientists with a 

unique tool to probe the secrets of nature hitherto concealed 

behind the veil of gravity.

• David Weitz, of the University of Pennsylvania, reported 

unexpected findings from his glovebox investigation, Binary

Colloid Alloy Test, which was completed on the Russian 

space station, Mir, in January 1997. Photographic data were 

collected on 10 slowly growing samples of the binary colloid 

alloys over a period of 90 days, along with rapid growth data

on 5 samples of colloidal gels formed from the mixtures of 

colloid particles and polymers. On Earth, these mixtures 

(colloid/polymers) form structures that collapse, presumably 

due to gravitational forces, after some latency time, which 

varies from 20 minutes to an hour. In the low-gravity 

environment of space on Mir, these structures were

observed for several hours without collapse, indicating that 

the collapse observed on Earth is due to gravitational forces. 

Weitz considers this a very important finding and believes 

that the microgravity environment of space will allow him 

to study the equilibrium structures previously unachievable 

on Earth. Long-term growth of binary colloidal crystal alloys 

also showed surprising results. The sample with a volume 

fraction of 0.54, which did not crystallize on Earth, showed 

large crystals in space. This again indicates the influence of 

gravity on these processes and a clear benefit of conducting 

the experiment in space.

• The first-ever observation of a metastable liquid-vapor 

interface configuration was made in the Interface

Configuration Experiment, a glovebox investigation conducted 

on Mir by astronaut Shannon Lucid. This experiment was 

devised to investigate the equilibrium behavior of liquid-vapor

interfaces in microgravity and to verify results of mathematical

models that are nearly impossible to realize in 1 g. Experiments
19

verified predictions of the mathematical model developed by

Paul Concus, of the University of California, Berkeley, and 

Robert Finn, of Stanford University, in that in a symmetrical

vessel, a nonsymmetric spoon-shaped interface was most stable,

a saddle-shaped interface was less stable, and a symmetric 

concave shape was least stable. The results, which cannot 

be obtained on Earth, will be used to guide the use of 

mathematical and numerical techniques in predicting the 

configuration and stability of a broader range of fluid 

interfaces in low-gravity environments. 

• In ground-based research, Harry Swinney, of the University

of Texas, reported the first-ever experimental observation of 

long-wavelength instability in his experiments using very thin

liquid layers, where the effect of gravity is negligible. A shortwavelength instability results in the formation of well-known

hexagonal cells. Although this long-wavelength instability 

was predicted 35 years ago, it had not been observed previously.

Swinney has also developed a numerical simulation that 

provides results which are in qualitative agreement with his 

experimental observations. This instability could become 

the primary instability in a microgravity environment. 

• Jungho Kim, of the University of Denver, has developed an 

array of 96 micro heaters (0.25 mm x 0.25 mm) with the 

capability of running each heater in a constant temperature or

constant heat flux mode through software control. This technique has the potential to answer many important questions 

involving boiling phenomena. For example, one relatively 

new hypothesis regarding critical heat flux involves looking

at the surface temperatures during the boiling process. If the

surface temperature is not lowered to below the Leidenfrost 

temperature (the temperature where a stable vapor film is 

formed on the surface) during the bubble departure cycle, then

colder fluid from the bulk is not able to rewet the surface, and

critical heat flux occurs. This can easily be tested by operating

the heaters in the array in a constant power mode and using 

the individual heaters to map out the temperature variations 

on the surface during boiling.

Meetings, Awards, and Publications

Microgravity fluid physics PI Eric Kaler, of the University 

of Delaware Division of Colloid and Surface Chemistry, won the

1998 American Chemical Society Award in Colloid or Surface 

Chemistry, sponsored by Procter & Gamble. The purpose of this

award is to recognize and encourage outstanding scientific contributions to colloid or surface chemistry in the United States or Canada.

Microgravity fluid physics PIs published numerous papers in

prestigious journals, such as Nature, the Journal of Fluid Mechanics,

Physical Review Letters, Physical Review, Langmuir, Physics of

Fluids, and the Journal of Colloids and Interface Science.

Two microgravity fluid physics PIs, James Jenkins, of

Cornell University, and Robert Behringer, of Duke University, 

organized an international conference titled “Powders and

Grains 97” at Duke University in May 1997. Nobel Laureate 

P. G. de Gennes, of the Collège de France, was the conference’s

keynote speaker. He gave a talk titled “Avalanche of Granular

Materials.” Several microgravity fluid physics PIs also presented

papers at the conference.

Many of the fluid physics PIs served on expert panels or

chaired sessions at a workshop called “Research for Space

Exploration: Physical Sciences and Processes Technology,”

which was held August 5–7, 1997, in Cleveland, Ohio, and

was organized by Brad Carpenter and Alexander Pline, both of

NASA headquarters. The purpose of the workshop was to facilitate

communication between the research community, mission planners,

and industry technical experts, with a goal of defining enabling

research for the NASA Human Exploration and Development 

of Space enterprise.

The following meetings and conferences of note also took

place during FY 1997:

Meeting/Conference Date

American Physical Society’s Fluid October 1996

Dynamics Meeting

The American Institute of Chemical November 1996

Engineers’ annual meeting 

The American Society of Mechanical November 1996

Engineers’ Mechanical Engineering 

Congress and Exhibition

The American Institute of Aeronautics January 1997

and Astronautics’ Space Processing Meeting

The Space Technology and Applications January 1997

International Forum — First Conference 

on Application of Thermophysics 

in Microgravity

The American Physical Society’s March 1997

March Meeting

The Engineering Foundation Conference May 1997

on Convective Flow and Pool Boiling

The American Society of Mechanical June 1997

Engineers’ Fluids Engineering Conference

The G. I. Taylor Symposium honoring June 1997

Mathematician George Batchelor

The American Chemical Society’s July 1997

Colloids Conference

The Microgravity Gordon July 1997

Research Conference

The National Heat Transfer Conference August 1997
20

Flight Experiments

Data from the Surface Tension-Driven Convection Experiment

(STDCE-2), conducted on the second United States Microgravity

Laboratory (USML–2) mission, are still being analyzed. The

STDCE-2 data, together with the ground-based data, show that 

the Marangoni number at the onset of oscillations varies with the

container size, which means that the Marangoni number cannot

describe the onset. Simon Ostrach and Yasuhiro Kamotani, both

of Case Western Reserve University, have derived surface deformation parameters for constant temperature and constant flux configurations based on the physical model of oscillations. The model

assumes that the deformability of free surface plays an important

role in the oscillation mechanism. The surface deformation parameters are found to correlate with the STDCE-2 data and the

ground-based data with smaller containers very well. Another

important objective is to determine the velocity and temperature

fields and the free surface motion during oscillations. Those quantities must have certain phase relations, according to the model of

oscillations. At present, the Ronchi data are still being analyzed to

determine the free surface motion. The imager data for the free

surface temperature distribution have been analyzed. 

Data analysis has been completed for the Pool Boiling

Experiment, which successfully finished its last two reflights. The

primary objective of the last two reflights, on STS-72 (January

1996) and STS-77 (May 1996), was to determine the factors governing the onset of dryout and/or rewetting on a flat heater surface.

On the STS-72 mission, the subcooling levels were increased,

while on the STS-77 mission, the heat flux levels were reduced.

Subcooling was observed for all but the very highest heat flux levels.

For lower levels of heat flux where dryout did not take place, it

appeared that the excess surface energy associated with the coalescence of bubbles was sufficient to impel the resulting combined

bubble away from the vicinity of the heater surface. This was 

sufficient to stir the liquid so as to bring the subcooled liquid to

the heater surface. 

Data analysis has nearly been completed for the reflight of the

Thermocapillary Migration of Bubbles and Drops in Microgravity

experiment, which was successfully completed on the Life and

Microgravity Spacelab (LMS) mission, STS-78, utilizing the

European Space Agency (ESA) facility known as the Bubble, Drop,

and Particle Unit (BDPU). R. Shankar Subramanian, of Clarkson

University, and Ramaswamy Balasubramaniam, of Lewis Research

Center, report that in the case of isolated drops and bubbles, the

LMS data appear consistent in overall trend with data from the

second International Microgravity Laboratory (IML–2) while

extending the range of values of the Marangoni and Reynolds

numbers. Also, in axisymmetric runs in the LMS experiments,

they observed, as in the case of the IML–2 experiments, that a small

leading drop substantially lowered the migration speed of a larger

trailing drop. However, some additional phenomena have been

observed in the LMS runs that were unanticipated and interesting.

In some experiments involving pairs of drops, a small leading drop

moved virtually along the axis of the cell, while a larger trailing 

drop moved off the axis. They also found a couple of cases of pairs 

of air bubbles that displayed the same asymmetric behavior in the

LMS runs. Another even more interesting observation is that liquid

drops in some instances moved in three-dimensional paths that

were complex but appeared to be approximately helical.

Dudley Saville, of Princeton University, obtained completely

unexpected results in his electrohydrodynamics experiments on the

stability of liquid bridges. These experiments were also carried out

on the LMS mission utilizing the BDPU. A high-voltage power

supply provided voltages up to 20 kV in either AC or DC modes.

Frequencies up to 500 Hz were employed. It was found that the

DC field strengths required to stabilize liquid bridges in the gas

were much higher than were predicted from simple scaling arguments based on the earlier ground-based two-liquid experiments

and the pinned-cylinder theories developed so far. Also, the fluid

bridges could not be stabilized using the AC field at strengths well

over the theoretical predictions. Some new observations were a

hysteresis in the field strength versus liquid bridge shapes and large,

sustained oscillations under certain conditions with DC fields.

Parenthetically, this experiment was a successful demonstration that

one can design, fabricate, and carry out a first-class experiment in a

relatively short time span. The total elapsed time from the science

concept review to the flight was only a little over 18 months.

The Angular Liquid Bridge investigation, designed by Paul

Concus, of the University of California, Berkeley, was conducted

by astronaut Jerry Linenger in late February 1997 in the Mir

glovebox on the Mir–23/NASA–4 mission. The experiment was

designed to explore the striking behavior of liquid-vapor interfaces

in a low-gravity environment under which major shifts of liquid

can arise from small changes in container configuration or contact

angle. The major portion of the experiment examines configurations

that liquid drops may assume between planar surfaces that may be

tilted with respect to each other. Impetus for this investigation

arises mainly from contrasting results obtained using classical 

theory. The insight gained by such work is basic for the design

and analysis of fluid systems in space, such as those used for management of liquid fuel and oxygen, for thermal systems (capillarypumped loops, heat pipes), and for biological processes (wastes

and waste recycling).

The Capillary Heat Transfer investigation, designed by Kevin

Hallinan, of the University of Dayton, was conducted on MSL–1

in July 1997 to investigate instabilities and failures in capillarypumped loops (CPLs) in microgravity. CPLs require no power

and can be used in satellites to transfer heat with high efficiency

from electrical components to space radiators. CPLs have proven

to be unreliable in space operations, and the explanation has been

elusive. This experiment answered many of those questions. The

glovebox investigator did observe the instabilities in the evaporator

meniscus, as expected, for a capillary heat transfer device in microgravity. For heat input from the vapor side of the meniscus, the

instabilities, though present, had little impact on the operation of

the device. For heat input on the liquid side of the meniscus, the
21

instabilities produced much more violent oscillations. In some

instances these oscillations caused some of the liquid in the condenser to be ejected, ultimately collecting and bridging in the bend

section of the vapor return line — thereby disrupting the device

operation. Evaporator dryout followed. The latter type of instabilities is not observed in 1 g due to the restoring effect of gravity.

One of the more striking observations of this experiment, however,

was that even if the evaporator meniscus was stable, the operation

of both test devices was disrupted by the formation of a liquid slug

in the vapor return line. This underscores the importance of interfacial phenomena in determining the equilibrium or low-energy

liquid-vapor interface configurations in microgravity environments.

These effects, if not properly accounted for, can easily lead to failure

or undesirable operation of capillary-driven devices.

Physics of Colloids in Space, designed by David Weitz, of the

University of Pennsylvania, and Marc Pusey, of Marshall Space

Flight Center, is slated to become the first fluid physics experiment

on the International Space Station, starting in January 2000. This

experiment will be conducted in the EXpedite PRocessing of

Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack located in the

U.S. laboratory module of the station. The scientific goals of this

experiment are to study fundamental colloid physics questions,

colloid engineering (using colloids as precursors for the fabrication

of novel materials), and properties of new materials and their precursors. Weitz and Pusey plan to conduct tests on seven samples of

selected binary colloidal crystals (AB13 and AB2), emulsions, colloid/

polymer mixtures, and fractal colloid gels. A requirements definition

review (RDR) for this investigation was held in July 1996. Nonadvocate science and engineering panels reviewed and approved the

experiment’s scientific merit as well as the engineering feasibility.

As a result, NASA has selected this experiment for space-flight.

The authority to proceed review for this experiment was held on

September 26, 1997, and approval is anticipated in the near future.

The Experimental Rheology Experiment, designed by Gareth

McKinley, of Harvard University, is intended to provide the first

unambiguous, quantitative measurements of the transient, uniaxial,

extensional viscosity for a viscoelastic polymer solution and to

examine the relaxation behavior following extensional deformation.

The test fluid selected for this investigation is Boger fluid composed

of 0.025 wt% of high molecular weight (MW) monodisperse polystyrene (MW = 2 million) dissolved in oligomeric polystyrene.

The complete test matrix involves eight non-Newtonian tests on

the Boger fluid covering the Deborah number range of 0.10 to

10.0, and two Newtonian tests using the oligomeric polystyrene

only. The experiments will be conducted on a Terrier Black-Brant

sounding rocket with an MK70 booster that provides a microgravity duration of 300 seconds. A total of five flights are needed

to complete the 10-test matrix (two tests/flight). The first flight is

scheduled for the March 1999 time frame. The RDR for this

investigation was held in July 1996. Nonadvocate science and

engineering panels reviewed and approved the experiment’s 

scientific merit as well as the engineering feasibility. As a result,

NASA has selected this experiment for flight on a sounding rocket.

The Internal Flows in Free Drops glovebox investigation, by

Satwindar Sadhal, of the University of Southern California, and

Eugene Trinh, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, was conducted on

MSL–1. The first accurate data for drop deformation as a function

of acoustic pressure were obtained for a sample located at the pressure minimum plane in the ultrasonic standing wave. All groundbased data are for a drop-away from the pressure nodal plane

because of gravity. The controlling parameters that affect the ability

of a single-axis, ultrasonic system operating in air at ambient 

temperature to quiescently position a liquid drop were identified

in a microgravity environment. Rotation control of a drop in microgravity was investigated. The ultimate capability of the single-axis

levitator will be determined from the acquired information. Preliminary observations indicate a residual steady rotation of about

0.1 revolution per second with the acoustic power required to

counteract the shuttle attitude control firings. High rotation rates

necessary for drop bifurcation and fission have also been measured.

Tracer particles within the deployed drops have allowed the 

measurement of the rotation rate, and they will yield quantitative

information on the dependence of acoustic torque on pressure, as

well as the assessment of the internal flow within a quasi-isothermal

drop in the Spacelab environment.

The Bubble and Drop Nonlinear Dynamics glovebox investigation, by L. Gary Leal, of the University of California, Santa

Barbara, and Trinh, was also conducted on MSL–1. They obtained

new data not collectable in 1 g on bubble nonlinear dynamics. An

effective method for bubble positioning and manipulation has been

discovered, and an ultrasonic method for bubble removal has been

demonstrated. The first data for nonlinear shape oscillation, freedecay frequency information for a totally free drop (no positioning

force field present), were obtained, and the technique for acquiring

such information was validated. Nonlinear bubble response to

modulation of a combination of fundamental and harmonic ultrasonic fields has been recorded, and new behavior not previously

observed has also been recorded. Large-amplitude bubble shape

oscillations were excited for the first time in low gravity. The

required ultrasonic field configuration for controlled bubble 

positioning in microgravity has been empirically determined on

orbit. The method used in 1 g has been shown to fail in low gravity.

Verification of the capability of an ultrasonic method for bubble

removal from the liquid bulk within a closed vessel has been 

successfully demonstrated.

Stein Sture, of the University of Colorado, is preparing to fly

the Mechanics of Granular Materials experiment on Space Shuttle

Discovery’s STS-89 mission, scheduled for January 15, 1998. The

experiment was previously flown on Atlantis in September 1996.

The Marshall Space Flight Center-sponsored experiment will test

six soil specimens. Three will be subjected to the same controlleddisplacement monotonic loading and unloading cycles used in the

first flight; the other three will be subjected to cyclic loading. Results

from the experiment’s first flight showed that at low confining

pressure, the soil is much stronger and stiffer than expected based

on experience with similar materials on Earth. The soil specimens 
22

Table 5 Fluid physics tasks funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1997

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments

Two-Phase Gas-Liquid Flows in Microgravity: Experimental and Theoretical

Investigation of the Annular Flow

Vemuri Balakotaiah

University of Houston, Houston, TX

The Dynamics of Disorder-Order Transitions in Hard Sphere Colloidal Dispersions

Paul M. Chaikin

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

Investigations of Mechanisms Associated With Nucleate Boiling Under Microgravity

Conditions

Vijay K. Dhir

University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Microscale Hydrodynamics Near Moving Contact Lines

Stephen Garoff

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell

John E. Hart

University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO

Growth and Morphology, Boiling, and Critical Fluctuations of Phase-Separating

Supercritical Fluids

John Hegseth

University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA

An Experimental Study of Richtmyer-Meshkov Instability in Low Gravity

Jeffrey W. Jacobs

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Microgravity Segregation in Binary Mixtures of Inelastic Spheres Driven by

Velocity Fluctuation Gradients

James T. Jenkins

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Bubble Dynamics on a Heated Surface

Mohammad Kassemi

Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland, OH

Magnetorheological Fluids: Rheology and Nonequilibrium Pattern Formation

Jing Liu

California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA

Extensional Rheology Experiment

Gareth H. McKinley

Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Study of Two-Phase Gas-Liquid Flow Behavior at Reduced-Gravity Conditions

John McQuillen

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Pool Boiling Experiment

Herman Merte, Jr.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Surface Tension-Driven Convection Experiment (STDCE-1, STDCE-2)

Simon Ostrach

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Behavior of Rapidly Sheared, Bubbly Suspensions

Ashok S. Sangani

Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

Studies in Electrohydrodynamics

Dudley A. Saville

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

Mechanics of Granular Materials

Stein Sture

University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO

Thermocapillary Migration and Interactions of Bubbles and Drops

R. Shankar Subramanian

Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY

A Study of the Constrained Vapor Bubble Heat Exchanger

Peter C. Wayner, Jr.

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Physics of Colloids in Space

David A. Weitz

University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA

Ground-Based Experiments

Experimental and Analytical Study of Two-Phase Flow Parameters in Microgravity

Davood Abdollahian

S. Levy Incorporated, Campbell, CA

will be studied using various soil mechanics measurements and

video imaging while in space. After the experiment, the specimens

will be impregnated with an epoxy to stabilize the sample for

postmission cross-cut sectioning and various internal imaging

techniques. Specimens from the previous mission were studied

using X-ray computer tomography scans performed at the Los

Alamos National Labs in New Mexico. This was the first time the

nondestructive imaging technique was successfully used on a soil

particle experiment. Data about the soil deformation were also 

obtained from video images taken on orbit and from laser profilometer testing, which was used to ascertain precisely how the

surface of each specimen was deformed during the experiment.

The fiscal year (FY) 1997 ground and flight tasks for fluid

physics are listed in Table 5. Further details on these tasks may be

found in the complementary document Microgravity Science and

Applications Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1997, NASA

Technical Memorandum 206645, February 1998.
23

Colloids and Nucleation

Bruce J. Ackerson

Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK

Dynamics and Statics of Nonaxisymmetric Liquid Bridges

J. Iwan D. Alexander

University of Alabama, Huntsville, Huntsville, AL

Numerical Simulation of Electrochemical Transport Processes in Microgravity

Environments

Sanjoy Banerjee

University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA

Control of Flowing Liquid Films by Electrostatic Fields in Space

S. George Bankoff

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Forced Oscillation of Pendant and Sessile Drops

Osman A. Basaran

Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

Dynamics of Granular Materials

Robert P. Behringer

Duke University, Durham, NC

Investigation of Drop Formation by a Vortex Ring in Microgravity

Luis P. Bernal

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Dynamic Modeling of the Microgravity Flow

Jeremiah U. Brackbill

Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM

Marangoni Instability-Induced Convection in Evaporating Liquid Droplets

An-Ti Chai

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

Rewetting of Monogroove Heat Pipe in Space Station Radiators

S. H. Chan

University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Milwaukee, WI

Bubble Dynamics, Two-Phase Flow, and Boiling Heat Transfer in Microgravity

Jacob N. Chung

Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Structure, Hydrodynamics, and Phase Transitions of Freely Suspended Liquid Crystals

Noel A. Clark

University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO

Fluid Interface Behavior Under Low- and Zero-Gravity Conditions

Paul Concus

University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA

Interface Morphology During Crystal Growth: Effects of Anisotropy and Fluid Flow

Sam R. Coriell

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Phoretic and Radiometric Force Measurements on Microparticles Under

Microgravity Conditions

E. James Davis

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Cell and Particle Interactions and Aggregation During Electrophoretic Motion

Robert H. Davis

University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO

Interaction and Aggregation of Colloidal Biological Particles and Droplets in

Electrically Driven Flows

Robert H. Davis

University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO

Theory of Solidification

Stephen H. Davis

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

The Melting of Aqueous Foams

Douglas J. Durian

University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Magnetothermal Convection in Nonconducting Diamagnetic and Paramagnetic 

Fluids

Boyd F. Edwards

West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV

Effects of Gravity on Sheared Turbulence Laden With Bubbles or Droplets

Said E. Elghobashi

University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA

Evaporation, Boiling, and Condensation on/in Capillary Structures of High Heat

Flux Two-Phase Devices

Amir Faghri

University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT

The Influence of Gravity on Colloidal Crystallization and Field-Induced Aggregation

Alice P. Gast

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Material Instabilities in Particulate Systems

Joe D. Goddard

University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA

Thermoacoustic Effects at a Solid-Fluid Boundary: The Role of a Second-Order

Thermal Expansion Coefficient

Ashok Gopinath

Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA

Instability Mechanisms in Thermally Driven Interfacial Flows in Liquid-Encapsulated

Crystal Growth

Hossein Haj-Hariri

University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA

A Study of the Microscale Fluid Physics in the Near-Contact Line Region of an

Evaporating Capillary Meniscus

Kevin P. Hallinan

University of Dayton, Dayton, OH

Interfacial Transport and Micellar Solubilization Processes

T. Alan Hatton

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

A Geophysical Flow Experiment in a Compressible Critical Fluid

John Hegseth

University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA

Experimental Investigation of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Enhancement in

Microgravity in the Presence of Electric Fields

Cila Herman

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD
24

Problems in Microgravity Fluid Mechanics: Thermocapillary Instabilities 

and G-Jitter Convection

George M. Homsy

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Surfactant-Based Critical Phenomena in Microgravity

Eric W. Kaler

University of Delaware, Newark, DE

Bubble Generation in a Flowing Liquid Medium and Resulting Two-Phase Flow in

Microgravity

Yasuhiro Kamotani

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Instability of Velocity and Temperature Fields in the Vicinity of a Bubble on a

Heated Surface

Mohammad Kassemi

Ohio Aerospace Institute , Cleveland, OH

Studies in Thermocapillary Convection of the Marangoni-Bénard Type 

Robert E. Kelly

University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Two-Phase Annular Flow in Helical Coil Flow Channels in a Reduced-Gravity

Environment

Edward G. Keshock

Cleveland State University, Cleveland, OH

Investigation of Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Mechanisms in Microgravity Using an

Array of Surface-Mounted Heat Flux Sensors

Jungho Kim

University of Denver, Denver, CO

Molecular Dynamics of Fluid-Solid Systems

Joel Koplik

City College of the City University of New York, New York, NY

Thermocapillary Convection in Low Pr Materials Under Simulated Reduced-Gravity

Conditions

Sindo Kou

University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI

Electric Field-Induced Interfacial Instabilities

Robert E. Kusner

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH

The Breakup and Coalescence of Gas Bubbles Driven by the Velocity Gradients of

a Nonuniform Flow

L. Gary Leal

University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA

Oscillatory Cross-Flow Electrophoresis: Application to Production-Scale

Separations

David T. Leighton

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

The Micromechanics of the Moving Contact Line

Seth Lichter

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Absolute and Convective Instability and Splitting of a Liquid Jet at Microgravity

Sung P. Lin

Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY

Magnetorheological Fluids in Microgravity

Jing Liu

California State University, Long Beach, Long Beach, CA

Rheology of Concentrated Emulsions

Michael Loewenberg

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Investigation of Thermal Stress Convection in Nonisothermal Gases Under

Microgravity Conditions

Daniel W. Mackowski

Auburn University, Auburn, AL

The Dissolution of an Interface Between Miscible Liquids

James V. Maher

University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

Passive or Active Radiation Stress Stabilization of (and Coupling to) Liquid Bridges

and Bridge Networks

Philip L. Marston

Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Fundamental Processes of Atomization in Fluid-Fluid Flows

Mark J. McCready

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

Fluid Dynamics and Solidification of Molten Solder Droplets Impacting on a

Substrate in Microgravity

Constantine M. Megaridis 

University of Illinois, Chicago, Chicago, IL

A Study of Nucleate Boiling With Forced Convection in Microgravity

Herman Merte, Jr.

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Determination of Interfacial Rheological Properties Through Microgravity

Oscillations of Bubbles and Drops

Ali Nadim

Boston University, Boston, MA

NMRI Measurements and Granular Dynamics Simulations of Segregation of

Granular Mixtures

Masami Nakagawa

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

Control of Oscillatory Thermocapillary Convection in Microgravity

G. Paul Neitzel

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Noncoalescence Effects in Microgravity

G. Paul Neitzel

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Production of Gas Bubbles in Reduced-Gravity Environments

Hasan N. Oguz

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Waves in Radial Gravity Using Magnetic Fluid

Daniel R. Ohlsen

University of Colorado, Boulder, Boulder, CO

Industrial Processes Influenced by Gravity

Simon Ostrach

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
25

On the Boundary Conditions at an Oscillating Contact Line: A Physical/Numerical

Experimental Program

Marc Perlin

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Acoustic Bubble Removal From Boiling Surfaces

Andrea Prosperetti

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Containerless Ripple Turbulence

Seth J. Putterman

University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Decoupling the Role of Inertia and Gravity on Particle Dispersion

Chris B. Rogers

Tufts University, Medford, MA

Design/Interpretation of Microgravity Experiments to Obtain Fluid/Solid Boundary

Conditions in Nonisothermal Systems

Daniel E. Rosner

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Gas Flow From Porous Media and Microgravity Battery Spills

Robert T. Ruggeri

The Boeing Company, Seattle, WA

Ground-Based Studies of Internal Flows in Levitated Laser-Heated Drops

Satwindar S. Sadhal

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Dielectric and Electrohydrodynamic Properties of Suspensions

Dudley A. Saville

Princeton University, Princeton, NJ

Terrestrial Experiments on G-Jitter Effects on Transport and Pattern Formation

Michael F. Schatz

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Free-Surface and Contact-Line Motion of Liquids in a Microgravity Environment

Leonard W. Schwartz

University of Delaware, Newark, DE

Drop Breakup in Flow Through Fixed Beds as Model Stochastic Strong Flows

Eric S. G. Shaqfeh

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Electrohydrodynamic Pool Boiling in Reduced Gravity

Benjamin D. Shaw

University of California, Davis, Davis, CA

Transport Processes Research

Bhim S. Singh

Lewis Research Center, Cleveland, OH 

Solute Nucleation and Growth in Supercritical Fluid Mixtures

Gregory T. Smedley California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Behavior of Unsteady Thermocapillary Flows

Marc K. Smith

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

The Development of Novel, High-Flux, Heat Transfer Cells for Thermal Control in

Microgravity

Marc K. Smith

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Dynamics of the Molten Contact Line

Ain A. Sonin

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Marangoni Effects on Drop Deformation and Breakup in an Extensional Flow: 

The Role of Surfactant Physical Chemistry

Kathleen J. Stebe

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Stability of Shapes Held by Surface Tension and Subjected to Flow

Paul H. Steen

Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Instabilities in Surface Tension-Driven Convection

Harry L. Swinney

University of Texas, Austin, Austin, TX

Crystal Growth and Fluid Mechanics Problems in Directional Solidification

Saleh Tanveer

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Microgravity Effects on Transendothelial Transport

John M. Tarbell

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Light-Scattering Studies of Relative Motions of Solid Particles in Turbulent Flows

Penger Tong

Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK

Studies of Particle Sedimentation by Novel Scattering Techniques

Penger Tong

Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK

Acoustic Streaming in Microgravity: Flow Stability and Heat Transfer Enhancement

Eugene H. Trinh

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Fluid Physics in a Stochastic Acceleration Environment

Jorge Viñals

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Residual Accelerations in a Microgravity Environment

Jorge Viñals

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL
26

Fundamental Physics Overview

The goal of the fundamental physics program is to use the

microgravity environment of space to shed light on the most 

fundamental physical laws that govern the behavior of matter. An

understanding of these laws, and the advanced technology developed in order to study them with unprecedented precision, are

useful in applications that support and enhance human presence in

space, improve the quality of life on Earth, and contribute to the

competitiveness of American industry. The microgravity fundamental physics research program currently includes research in

the areas of low-temperature and condensed matter physics

(LTCMP), laser cooling and atomic physics (LCAP), and gravitational and relativistic physics (GRP). One of the strengths of the

fundamental physics discipline is the significant synergy that

exists across the three subdisciplines in terms of both scientific

convergence and overlap in experimental techniques. Both

experimental and theoretical research is being funded.

In fiscal year (FY) 1997, the focus in the LTCMP area was

on high-resolution tests of the renormalization group (RG) theory,

studies of finite size effects in matter, studies of quantum solidification, and studies of levitated helium drops. The RG theory 

constitutes one of the greatest achievements of theoretical physics

in the past 30 years. The increased understanding of the validity

of use of the RG theory in such disciplines as percolation, pattern

formation, and evolution of turbulence will help scientists develop

better models for how water seeps through soil, how frost heaving

occurs in arctic climates, and how turbulent weather systems

evolve, among other things.

In the LCAP area, the research focus over the last year has

been on development of advanced clocks; studies of fundamental

forces and symmetries of nature, such as measurements of the

electric dipole moment of the electron; and studies of Bose-Einstein

condensation (BEC). An advanced technology development 

proposal to develop the core flight technology required for

LCAP investigators currently in the program was successfully

defended. The development of this technology will serve as the

first step in providing LCAP investigators access to space. 

In the GRP area, the research focus in the last year has been

on development of advanced hardware to perform high-resolution

tests of Einstein’s equivalence principle. The Satellite Test of the

Equivalence Principle (STEP) experiment has the objective of

testing an underlying postulate of the theory of general relativity —

the principle of the equivalence of inertial mass and gravitational

mass — to a precision of about one part in 1018. Efforts last year

focused on developing and demonstrating several critical technologies required for the STEP instrument, particularly in regard

to superconducting accelerometers. Agreements for cooperation

are being negotiated with representatives of the European Space

Agency (ESA) and with national space agencies in Europe. To

firmly validate the scientific importance of STEP, it was reproposed

as part of the 1996 Fundamental Physics NASA Research

Announcement (NRA). The results of the evaluation are 

expected to become available early next year.

The requirements definition review (RDR) for Critical

Dynamics in Microgravity (DYNAMX) was conducted in

February 1997. The science and programmatic/engineering review

panels recommended additional work be completed prior to proceeding to flight. Both panels recommended a delta RDR in about

a year. NASA headquarters and the Microgravity Research

Program Office at Marshall Space Flight Center endorsed this 

recommendation. The DYNAMX project team reacted to the

RDR recommendations by reorganizing activities under direct 

science leadership strengthened by the addition of John Lipa, of

Stanford University, as a technical consultant and David Goodstein,

of the California Institute of Technology, as an overall science 

consultant. Sensors have been redesigned and refabricated, and the

process of incorporating this new hardware into the ground test

facility in order to conduct the final testing required to demonstrate

experiment feasibility is under way. In August, the project was

directed to replan for flight on the International Space Station

(ISS) Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics Facility (LTMPF) in

2003. Specific scientific accomplishments by DYNAMX reported

in the open literature include the first experimental observation of

self-organized criticality in 4He and preliminary results indicating

the existence of nonlinear thermal transport previously predicted

by theory. Robert Duncan, of the University of New Mexico, is 

the principal investigator (PI) for DYNAMX.

The MIcrogravity Scaling Theory Experiment (MISTE) is a

flight definition experiment planned for operation on the ISS.

Martin Barmatz, of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is the PI

for this experiment. MISTE will measure three critical exponents

near the gas-liquid critical point in 3He in the same apparatus,

thus allowing rigorous tests of theories for the scaling and hyperscaling relationships between these exponents. Performing the

measurements in microgravity will permit these critical parameters

to be measured very close to the phase transition where asymptotic

critical point behavior is clearly dominant. During FY 1997,

Barmatz participated in the planning of the ISS LTMPF by serving

on the science planning committee. Precision ground-based measurements are now being performed in preparation for MISTE’s 

science concept review (SCR), scheduled for November 1998.

The Superfluid Universality Experiment (SUE) was chosen

in February 1996 to be a flight definition experiment for operation

on the ISS. SUE will measure properties of superfluid helium just

below the phase transition to determine critical parameters at the

transition. These measurements will be repeated at several pressures

to test theories of the universality predictions of such transitions.

Of critical importance to the success of SUE is the development

of high-resolution pressure control capability. Activities in 1997

focused largely on demonstrating and validating this new technology. Last year’s effort also included participation on the science

planning team for the ISS LTMPF. The SCR for SUE is scheduled

for November 1998. Lipa is the PI for SUE.

Of note in the fundamental physics discipline is the fact that

researchers generally must advance the state of the art in technology
27

in order to take full advantage of the opportunities offered by the

space environment. These advancements in technology can be

applied to other endeavors in support of American commerce or

in support of the presence of humans in space. Example technologies include superconducting magnetometers for efficient

resource mining and noninvasive medical diagnostics; management

of cryogenic fluids for life support systems and manufacturing

use; and use of highly accurate, low-temperature clocks for

navigation, global positioning, and communications.

The second fundamental physics NRA was released in 

FY 1997, and 86 proposals were received in response. Many of

the proposals were for new, innovative research directions in all

three subdisciplines. To review the proposals, NASA assembled

high-quality panels, including a “blue ribbon” panel with two

Nobel laureates. Selection of research for funding is expected in

early FY 1998. In addition, two glovebox research proposals were

developed and submitted for review last year.

The Fundamental Physics Steering Group, with advice and

assistance from other scientists in the ground-based and flight

programs, finalized a science plan for the discipline. This plan

will be updated on an annual basis to represent a discipline science

outlook with about a 5- to 10-year horizon.

A few notable achievements during FY 1997 ground-based

investigations are listed below.

• George Seidel, of Brown University, successfully suspended 

drops of liquid helium using a nonuniform magnetic field. 

He was able to observe motions of the drops and could control

their spin with electric forces after applying charges to the 

drops. Unusual noncoalescence behavior was observed for 

two drops in the potential well, which was explained as being 

due to vapor occurring between the drops to isolate them 

from each other.

• Horst Meyer, of Duke University, and Guenter Ahlers, of 

the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), resolved

an old discrepancy in the data for the heat flow resistance at 

the interface between a solid surface and liquid helium. 

New data at Duke and at UCSB for the boundary-resistance

anomaly as the lambda point transition is approached now 

agree, resolving a difference in earlier results. Rebuilding the

experimental cell to eliminate very small gaps was crucial to 

these measurements.

• Kurt Gibble, of Yale University, has demonstrated the 

feasibility of critical technologies needed for development 

of a rubidium-based microgravity clock.

• Dan Heinzen, of the University of Texas, Austin, observed 

Bose-Einstein condensation in rubidium.

• Robert Chave, of JPL, developed a magnetostrictive valve 

operating at low temperature with a very small fluid volume.

The valve was cycled over 100 times at low temperature. 

Valve demonstration with a high-temperature, superconducting solenoid was also performed.

• Results from ground-based investigations have been published

in 31 presentations, 19 proceeding papers, and 36 articles in 

refereed journals.

• Fundamental physics investigations have supported 29 

students who are working toward their doctoral degrees and

10 undergraduate students. Five graduate students received 

their doctoral degrees in FY 1997.

Meetings, Awards, and Publications

This year’s Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to three

scientists responsible for the development of laser cooling and

trapping of atoms. Steve Chu, of Stanford University; William

D. Phillips, of the National Institute of Science and Technology;

and Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, of École Normale Superieur in

France, were recognized for their contribution to the field of

laser cooling and trapping. These accomplishments have already

led to important developments such as the observation of BoseEinstein condensation in a dilute gas of atoms and the potential

for ultraprecise atomic clocks for ground and space applications.

Chu and Phillips have been involved in various capacities in the

NASA fundamental physics program during the last few years.

The 1997 Fundamental Physics Investigators Workshop

drew 62 attendees to Santa Barbara, California, May 7–9.

Several of the investigators reported new findings that raised

questions concerning discrepancies with existing theories. One

of the more exciting announcements was Heinzen’s report of

his group’s verging upon observing Bose-Einstein condensed

atoms (Heinzen announced the observation of BEC shortly

after the workshop). Rob Duncan, of the University of New

Mexico, who is the PI for DYNAMX, presented beautiful new

data showing helium in a self-organized state near the lambda

transition. Prospects for performing meaningful tests of theories

of relativity and gravitation in the STEP investigation were

described by Francis Everitt and Saps Buchman, both of

Stanford University. Special sessions describing plans for the

development of facilities for the ISS brought out the need for

investigator input to establish requirements envelopes for these

facilities. Mike Devirian, of JPL, described the recent and

planned growth in this program and pointed to new 

opportunities for glovebox experiments and for near-term

shuttle flights; two new glovebox experiments were proposed 

as a result of discussions at the workshop. Mark C. Lee, of

NASA headquarters, illustrated the evolution of a program 

for support by the fundamental physics program of the

Human Exploration and Development of Space enterprise,

inviting the investigators to contribute to the ideas being

advanced. Ahlers presented the science plan for fundamental

physics, asking for comments from the investigators to help 
28

refine the concepts described in the document. Proceedings,

consisting of summaries of the presentations, will be published as

a NASA document.

Several members of the fundamental physics discipline

attended the Symposium on Physical Sciences in Microgravity in

St. Petersburg, Russia, June 15–21, 1997. This symposium covered

a broad area of microgravity science and applications, including

combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and

materials science, and was attended by 200–300 scientists and

engineers. The symposium provided a valuable opportunity to

mingle with people from other microgravity disciplines. Ahlers

gave an invited plenary talk (one of only three for the entire

meeting). This talk was an opportunity to explain to the broader

community the exciting developments in microgravity fundamental

physics that are taking place right now. The presentation was

received with much interest by our colleagues in the broad microgravity science community.

A workshop on low-temperature microgravity physics was

held in Chernogolovka, Russia, June 23–27, 1997. The workshop

was organized by the Institute of Solid State Physics of the

Russian Academy of Science and was chaired by the institute’s

director, Yury Ossipyan. About 50 scientists were in attendance to

hear 23 scientific papers presented in the areas of low-temperature

and condensed matter physics, laser cooling and atomic physics,

and gravitational physics by participants from Japan, Russia, 

the Ukraine, and the United States. Many papers represented 

scientific results obtained by international teams of researchers.

Six investigators in the fundamental physics program represented

NASA. The proceedings of this workshop will be published in

the Russian language journal Fizika Nizkikh Temperatur (LowTemperature Physics).

The Quantum Fluids Workshop, organized by École Normale

Superieure, was held in Paris, France, July 21–25. About 250

international participants, including three Nobel Prize winners,

were in attendance. The scientific program included 192 presentations in condensed matter physics and in laser cooling and atomic

physics. Six U.S. microgravity fundamental physics investigators

attended the meeting, along with 18 additional presenters with

strong ties to this microgravity program. The DYNAMX flight

project presented preliminary results showing the first measurements of nonlinear thermal conductivity data. Following peer

review, the meeting contributions will be published in the Journal

of Low Temperature Physics.

The Space Cryogenics Workshop, jointly organized by JPL

and the University of Oregon Physics Department, was held in

Eugene, Oregon, August 4–5. NASA’s Microgravity Research

Division and its Office of Space Science jointly sponsored the

workshop. At the workshop, the latest developments in space

cryogenics were discussed. Following peer review, the workshop

contributions will be published in the journal Cryogenics.

Flight Experiments

The Confined Helium Experiment (CHeX), which studies

fundamental questions regarding the influence of boundaries on

the behavior of matter, completed system integration and testing

at JPL about midway through the year and was shipped to

Kennedy Space Center (KSC) for launch integration. At KSC,

CHeX completed integration verification testing with the Mission

Peculiar Experiment Support Structure carrier and was ready for

transport to the pad. CHeX was launched on the space shuttle as

part of the fourth United States Microgravity Payload (USMP–4)

mission on November 19, 1997. Lipa is the PI for CHeX.

The Critical Fluid Light-Scattering Experiment (Zeno) 

successfully completed its second flight on the USMP–3 mission

last year. FY 1997 was spent on completing the data analysis and

in preparing manuscripts for publication. This experiment extends

and improves measurements of the decay rates and the correlation

length of critical fluctuations in a simple fluid very near its liquidvapor critical point. While the experiment fell short of its full

potential due to problems with the density of the xenon vapor

sample, the measurements achieved were substantially closer to

the critical temperature than can be attained on Earth. The PI 

for Zeno is Robert Gammon, of the University of Maryland.

The Critical Viscosity Experiment (CVX) successfully flew

on the first True Air Speed (TAS–01) payload as part of the

85th Space Transportation System (STS-85) mission in August.

The mission was extended by one day to allow the CVX team to

collect additional data. The experiment performed exceptionally

well and collected data for nearly the entire 11-day mission. The

main objective of the CVX experiment was to measure the 

viscosity of xenon to within 0.3 percent of the critical density and

to within 0.6 mK of the critical temperature (Tc), which is 30

times closer than can be measured on Earth. Preliminary analysis

of the data suggests that accurate viscosity measurements were

obtained to within about 1 mK of Tc, and possibly as close as 

0.6 mK. The weak divergence of the viscosity was clearly seen

in the microgravity environment and was approximately twice 

as large as the best measurements on Earth. The divergence is

strongly masked in Earth’s gravity due to stratification of the

fluid density. Data analysis and manuscript preparations will be

continued throughout next year. The PI for CVX is Robert Berg,

of the National Institute for Standards and Technology.

The FY 1997 ground and flight tasks for fundamental physics

are listed in Table 6. Further details on these tasks may be found

in the complementary document Microgravity Science and

Applications Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1997, 

NASA Technical Memorandum 206645, February 1998.
29

Table 6 Fundamental physics tasks funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1997

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments

Microgravity Test of Universality and Scaling Predictions Near the Liquid-Gas

Critical Point of 3He

Martin B. Barmatz

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Critical Viscosity of Xenon

Robert F. Berg

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Critical Dynamics in Microgravity

Robert V. Duncan

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle

C. W. Francis Everitt

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Critical Fluid Light-Scattering Experiment

Robert W. Gammon

University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD

Confined Helium Experiment

John A. Lipa

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

A New Test of Critical-Point Universality by Measuring the Superfluid Density 

Near the Lambda Line of Helium

John A. Lipa

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Ground-Based Experiments

The Superfluid Transition of 4He Under Unusual Conditions

Guenter Ahlers

University of California, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA

New Phenomena in Strongly Counterflowing He-II Near Tl

Stephen T. Boyd

University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM

Prediction of Macroscopic Properties of Liquid Helium From Computer Simulation

David M. Ceperley

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

The Lambda Transition Under Superfluid Flow Conditions

Talso C. P. Chui

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Nucleation of Quantized Vortices From Rotating Superfluid Drops

Russell J. Donnelly

University of Oregon, Eugene, OR

Kinetic and Thermodynamic Studies of Melting-Freezing of Helium in Microgravity

Charles Elbaum

Brown University, Providence, RI

Critical Dynamics of Ambient Temperature and Low-Temperature Phase Transitions

Richard A. Ferrell

University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, MD

Investigation of Future Microgravity Atomic Clocks

Kurt Gibble

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Precision Measurements with Trapped, Laser-Cooled Atoms in a Microgravity

Environment

Daniel J. Heinzen

University of Texas, Austin, Austin, TX

Collisional Frequency Shifts Near Zero-Energy Resonance

Randall G. Hulet

Rice University, Houston, TX

Dynamic Measurements Along the Lambda Line of Helium in a Low-Gravity

Simulator on the Ground

Ulf E. Israelsson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Second Sound Measurements Near the Tricritical Point in 3He-4He Mixtures

Melora E. Larson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Static Properties of 4He in the Presence of a Heat Current in a Low-Gravity

Simulator

Melora E. Larson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Red-Shift Test of General Relativity on Space Station Using Superconducting 

Cavity Oscillators

John A. Lipa

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

A Renewal Proposal to Study the Effect of Confinement on Transport Properties 

by Making Use of Helium Along the Lambda Line

John A. Lipa

Stanford University, Stanford, CA

Theoretical Studies of Liquid 4He Near the Superfluid Transition

Efstratios Manousakis

Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL

Density Equilibration in Fluids Near the Liquid-Vapor Critical Point

Horst Meyer

Duke University, Durham, NC

Indium Mono-Ion Oscillator II

Warren Nagourney

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Nonlinear Relaxation and Fluctuations in a Nonequilibrium, Near-Critical Liquid

With a Temperature Gradient

Alexander Z. Patashinski

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Superfluid Density of Confined 4He Near Tl

David Pearson

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Finite Size Effects Near the Liquid-Gas Critical Point of 3He

Joseph Rudnick

University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Dynamics and Morphology of Superfluid Helium Drops in a Microgravity Environment

George M. Seidel

Brown University, Providence, RI

Precise Measurements of the Density and Critical Phenomena of Helium Near

Phase Transitions

Donald M. Strayer

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA
30

The goal of the materials science research program is to

establish and improve the quantitative and predictive relationships

in the structure, processing, and properties of materials. Production

processes for most materials include steps that are very heavily

influenced by the force of gravity. Typical gravity-related effects

on materials science research include buoyancy-driven convection,

sedimentation, and hydrostatic pressure. The opportunity to

observe, monitor, and study material production in low gravity

promises to increase our fundamental understanding of production

processes and their effects on the properties of the materials produced. By careful modeling and experimentation, the mechanisms

by which materials are formed can be better understood and can

result in improved processing controls. In this way, materials 

scientists can design new metal alloys, semiconductors, ceramics,

glasses, and polymers to improve the performance of a wide range

of products, such as complex computers and stronger, more durable

metal alloys.

Several important events took place during fiscal year (FY)

1997, such as the successful flights of the Liquid Metal Diffusion

(LMD) investigation in January, the first Microgravity Science

Laboratory (MSL–1) mission in April, and the reflight of the MSL

mission (MSL–1R) in July. The materials science program placed an

emphasis on ensuring that principal investigators (PIs) conducting

flight-based experiments successfully completed the flight definition

phase major reviews, including the science concept review (SCR)

and the requirements definition review (RDR), in a timely manner

through dedicated NASA and PI teams. Also during FY 1997,

the materials science program began implementation of NASA’s

Human Exploration and Development of Space (HEDS) enterprise

Strategic Plan, which includes goals, performance measurements,

and metrics. The HEDS Strategic Plan, which has direct benefits

for the nation, provides the framework for conducting materials

science research.

In the spring, the Committee on Materials Science Research

on the International Space Station (ISS) was convened under the

auspices of the National Research Council to examine NASA’s

research plan for microgravity materials science with respect to

evolving interests and priorities in the field of materials science.

Additionally, the committee assessed the Space Station Furnace

Facility (SSFF) concept with respect to its specific research 

capabilities, technology, and usefulness to the U.S. materials science

community. The committee’s review reconfirmed the value of

research conducted in NASA’s materials science program, but

recommended that NASA expand the range of experiments and

classes of materials (such as glasses, ceramics, and polymers) that

the SSFF could accommodate. NASA addressed the council’s

concerns by beginning work toward the design of a more flexible

flight facility that would accommodate a wider variety of materials

investigations and be more compatible with available power, 

volume, upmass, and crew resources on the ISS. The new concept

is known as the Materials Science Research Facility (MSRF). The

MSRF consists of independent, modular racks, each of which will

be comprised of experiment modules that can be replaced on

orbit; module inserts; and investigation-unique apparatus and/or

multiuser, generic processing apparatus that will support a wide

variety of scientific investigations. The first rack is targeted for

the third Utilization Flight (UF–3) to the ISS. 

In December 1996, the NASA Research Announcement for

materials science was issued. Over 200 proposals were received

and reviewed by selection panels. It is anticipated that the selection

of flight and ground PIs will be announced in the first quarter of

FY 1998. For the flight definition investigations selected from the

1994 research announcement, SCRs are planned for FY 1998, and

RDRs are planned for FY 1999.

Meetings, Awards, and Publications

The Scientific and Technological Advisory Council (STAC)

met in Huntsville, Alabama, November 10–13, 1997. STAC is the

Russian organization responsible for program management and

implementation of U.S.-funded Russian space research. The purpose

of the conference was to present experiment results. The conference

was attended by approximately 60 high-ranking Russian scientists

and administrators, many of whom are members of the Russian

Academy of Sciences, as well as participants from the Alliance for

Microgravity Materials Science and Applications (AMMSA).

Among those AMMSA members who gave presentations at the

conference were Marc Pusey (co-chair and presenter for the Space

Biotechnology session); William Witherow and Alexander Chernov

(presenters for the Space Biotechnology session); Iwan Alexander

(co-chair and presenter for the Space Technology and Materials

Science session); and Donald Gillies, Sandor Lehoczky, Ching-Hua

Su, and Frank Szofran (presenters for the Space Technology and

Materials Science session). Among those AMMSA members who

provided general support were Danna McCauley, who coordinated

the AMMSA support; Charlie Walker and Leonard Williams, who

provided computer support; and Jean George, Nancy Marsh, and

Sue Zarger, who provided daily support at the conference’s help

tables. A tour of Marshall Space Flight Center(MSFC) was conducted

and included stops at the Global Hydrology and Climate Control

building, the Space Sciences Laboratory, the Microgravity Development Laboratory, the drop tower, the space station mockups, and the

Structural Biotechnology Laboratory. A separate tour was provided

of selected facilities at the University of Alabama in Huntsville.

The Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers

(SPIE) sponsored its second conference on materials research in

low gravity at its annual International Symposium on Optical

Science, Engineering, and Instrumentation. The symposium took

place July 27–August 1, 1997, in San Diego, California. SPIE hopes

to hold this conference every two years. The 1997 conference topics

included materials for sensors and electronics with special emphases

on crystal growth from the vapor phase, containerless processing of

new materials, measurement of properties, and characterization

Materials Science Overview
31

and modeling of crystal growth processes. A joint panel discussion

on materials processing for detectors and electronics was also held

in conjunction with other meetings with similar content at the

symposium. The panel discussion outlined the current status of

reduced-gravity materials processing and focused on the critical

needs and challenges in this area. Researchers drawn from industry,

universities, and various NASA centers presented papers in eight sessions and participated in the conference. Narayanan Ramachandran,

of the Universities Space Research Association at MSFC, served as

conference chairman and editor of the conference proceedings.

Flight Experiments

The LMD investigation utilized the Canadian vibration 

isolation system called the Microgravity Isolation Mount, which is

located on the Russian space station, Mir. LMD was launched on

the 81st Space Transportation System (STS-81) mission in January

1997 and was operated on Mir during the NASA–4 increment.

The technological goals of LMD were to test the diffusion coefficient measurement technique at a single temperature using indium,

and to determine how easily these diffusion coefficient measurements are contaminated by convection arising from g-jitter.

Seven materials science experiments were conducted on the

MSL–1R mission in July 1997: Coarsening in Solid-Liquid

Mixtures (CSLM); Liquid-Phase Sintering-2 (LPS-2); Diffusion

Processes in Molten Semiconductors (DPIMS); Experiments 

on Nucleation in Different Flow Regimes; Alloy Undercooling

Experiments; AC Calorimetry and Thermophysical Properties 

of Bulk, Glass-Forming Metallic Liquids; and Measurement of

Surface Tension and Viscosity of Undercooled Liquid Melts. 

The objective of the CSLM experiment was to study the

coarsening kinetics of tin-rich particles in eutectic liquids of lead-tin

alloys with various compositions. This study was conducted in

order to gain an understanding of the coarsening process through

direct comparison of the results from this experiment with current

theories. The experiment was performed in an electric furnace in

the shuttle’s Middeck Glovebox.

The purpose of the LPS-2 experiment was to test theories

regarding liquid-phase sintering and to examine coalescence and

pore behavior during liquid-phase sintering in the microgravity

environment. This investigation was conducted in the Japanese

Large Isothermal Furnace (LIF), which is a vacuum-heating furnace

designed to heat large samples uniformly.

The DPIMS experiment was designed to provide a definitive

measurement of the diffusion coefficients of trace impurities such

as gallium, silicon, and antimony in molten germanium, and to

investigate the dependence of diffusion on temperature, impurity

type, and sample diameter. These data will be used to develop

models of diffusion. DPIMS was also conducted in the LIF. 

The Experiments on Nucleation in Different Flow Regimes

investigation was conducted in the German facility called TEMPUS

(Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility). The purpose

of this investigation was to determine quantitatively the temperatures of solid nucleations from melts of pure zirconium and the

number of nucleations at each temperature as the melts are cooled

below their equilibrium freezing points under laminar and turbulent

liquid flow conditions.

Alloy Undercooling Experiments also utilized the TEMPUS

facility. The purpose of these experiments was to measure the

solidification velocity in steel alloys using a combination of video

and pyrometric techniques. These experiments were designed 

to yield information on phase selection and growth kinetics with

limited melt convection. This work has direct application to the

design of steel strip casting facilities on Earth and helps scientists

understand how welding processes may be conducted in space. 

The AC Calorimetry and Thermophysical Properties of Bulk,

Glass-Forming Metallic Liquids investigation was conducted in the

TEMPUS facility, and its purpose was to measure thermophysical

properties of good, glass-forming metallic alloys to allow

improvement of process technologies for such materials. 

The Measurement of Surface Tension and Viscosity of

Undercooled Liquid Metals investigation also utilized the TEMPUS

facility. Its purpose was to demonstrate a containerless technique

for measuring the viscosity and surface tension of reactive and

undercooled liquid metals, such as zirconium; titanium; and

metallic, glass-forming alloys.

The Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment (IDGE) is a

fundamental microgravity materials science investigation that has

been flown three times as part of the United States Microgravity

Payload (USMP) series. Because virtually all industrially important

alloys solidify from a molten state by a dendritic process, a fundamental understanding of dendritic solidification is necessary to 

correct mathematical models that will provide a basis for improved

industrial production techniques. During the first two flights 

of IDGE on the shuttle, the IDGE flight hardware grew and

photographed individual dendrites of the material succinonitrile 

as they solidified at various temperatures. The third flight of IDGE

on USMP–4 will use a different sample material, pivalic acid.

The second flight of the Bismuth-Tin Solidification Experiment

in the USMP series will provide data on the solidification behavior

and the solid-liquid interface stability of bismuth and bismuth-tin

alloys during crystal growth. The experiment uses the Seebeck

technique to measure interface undercooling temperature, resistance

change across the sample to measure interfacial velocity, Peltier

pulsing for demarcation of the sample interface, and quenching

to determine the chemistry and structure near the solid/liquid

interface. This experiment will be carried out in the Frenchdeveloped MEPHISTO furnace.

The second flight in the USMP series of the Growth of SolidSolution Single Crystals experiment, using mercury cadmium telluride in the Advanced Automated Directional Solidification

Furnace (AADSF), will produce material of high scientific value to
32

the electronics community. It is anticipated that this material will be

of benchmark quality and suitable for advanced electrical property

measurement. The effects of microgravity and the control of residual amounts of microgravity on crystal growth of materials having

high alloy contents will be demonstrated.

The second flight in the USMP series of the Compound Semiconductor Crystal Growth in a Microgravity Environment investigation, using lead tin telluride in the AADSF, will establish some

fundamental growth properties of lead tin telluride and a better

understanding of the mechanisms involved in crystal growth, especially those affected by gravity. This information will not only help

to produce better quality materials on Earth but will also help define

future efforts of crystal growth in space and lead the way to an even

deeper understanding of the most basic aspects of crystal growth. 

The Particle Engulfment and Pushing by Solidifying Interfaces

experiment will be conducted in the Middeck Glovebox (MGBX)

as part of USMP–4. This investigation will obtain data that will aid

in gaining a fundamental understanding of the interaction between

the solid-liquid interface of a solidifying material and particles

interspersed in the material. Temperature, particle size, and furnace

velocity data obtained from this investigation will be used to develop

a theoretical basis for processing real-work composite materials. 

The Wetting Characteristics of Immiscibles (WCI) experiment

will also be conducted in the MGBX as part of USMP–4. The

WCI investigation was designed to study ways to control the wetting

behavior of immiscible liquids with the walls of their containers in

order to produce more desirable structures. Because of the many

useful characteristics of “immiscible alloys,” there is great interest

in producing combinations where the two liquids are uniformly

distributed. When the liquid system can be controlled by processing

in a microgravity environment, a better end product can be made.

The FY 1997 ground and flight tasks for materials science 

are listed in Table 7. Further details on these tasks may be found in

the complementary document Microgravity Science and Applications

Program Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1997, NASA Technical

Memorandum 206645, February 1998.

Table 7 Materials science tasks funded by the Microgravity Research Division in FY 1997

(includes some continuing projects at no additional cost)

Flight Experiments

Coupled Growth in Hypermonotectics

J. Barry Andrews

University of Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

Fundamental Aspects of Vapor Deposition and Etching Under Diffusion-Controlled

Transport Conditions

Klaus J. Bachmann

North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC

Experiments on Nucleation in Different Flow Regimes

Robert J. Bayuzick

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Investigation of the Relationship Between Undercooling and Solidification Velocity

Robert J. Bayuzick

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Equiaxed Dendritic Solidification Experiment

Christoph Beckermann

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Alloy Undercooling Experiments in a Microgravity Environment

Merton C. Flemings

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Measurement of the Viscosity and Surface Tension of Undercooled Melts Under

Microgravity Conditions and Supporting Magnetohydrodynamic Calculations

Merton C. Flemings

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Growth of Compound Semiconductors in a Low-Gravity Environment

Archibald L. Fripp

Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA

Gravitational Role in Liquid-Phase Sintering

Randall M. German

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment

Martin E. Glicksman

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Thermophysical Properties of Metallic Glasses and Undercooled Liquids

William L. Johnson

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Orbital Processing of Eutectic Rod-Like Arrays

David J. Larson

State University of New York, Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY

Orbital Processing of High-Quality Cadmium Telluride

David J. Larson

State University of New York, Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY

Crystal Growth of II-VI Semiconducting Alloys by Directional Solidification

Sandor L. Lehoczky

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Growth of Solid-Solution Single Crystals

Sandor L. Lehoczky

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Diffusion Processes in Molten Semiconductors

David H. Matthiesen

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

GaAs Crystal Growth Experiment

David H. Matthiesen

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH
33

The Study of Dopant Segregation Behavior During the Growth of GaAs in Microgravity

David H. Matthiesen

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Space- and Ground-Based Crystal Growth Using a Magnetically Coupled Baffle

Aleksandar G. Ostrogorsky

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Comparison of Structure and Segregation in Alloys Directionally Solidified in Terrestrial

and Microgravity Environments

David R. Poirier

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Self-Diffusion in Liquid Elements

Franz E. Rosenberger

University of Alabama, Huntsville, Huntsville, AL

Temperature Dependence of Diffusivities in Liquid Metals

Franz E. Rosenberger

University of Alabama, Huntsville, Huntsville, AL

Particle Engulfment and Pushing by Solidifying Interfaces

Doru M. Stefanescu

University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Tuscaloosa, AL

Crystal Growth of ZnSe and Related Ternary Compound Semiconductors by Physical

Vapor Transport

Ching-Hua Su

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Crystal Growth of ZnSe and Related Ternary Compound Semiconductors by Vapor

Transport

Ching-Hua Su

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Interface Pattern Selection Criterion for Cellular Structures in Directional 

Solidification

Rohit K. Trivedi

Iowa State University, Ames, IA

Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures

Peter W. Voorhees

Northwestern University, Evanston, IL

Vapor Growth of Alloy-Type Semiconductor Crystals

Heribert Wiedemeier

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Ground-Based Experiments

Analysis of Residual Acceleration Effects on Transport and Segregation During

Directional Solidification of Tin-Bismuth in the MEPHISTO Furnace Facility

J. Iwan D. Alexander

University of Alabama, Huntsville, Huntsville, AL

Synthesis and Characterization of Single Macromolecules: Mechanistic Studies of

Crystallization and Aggregation

Spiro D. Alexandratos

University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Knoxville, TN

Microgravity Impregnation of Fiber Preforms

M. Cengiz Altan

University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK

An Electrochemical Method to Visualize Flow and Measure Diffusivity in Liquid 

Metals

Timothy J. Anderson

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

The Effect of Convection on Morphological Stability During Coupled Growth in

Immiscible Systems

J. Barry Andrews

University of Alabama, Birmingham, Birmingham, AL

Foam Metallic Glasses

Robert E. Apfel

Yale University, New Haven, CT

Ostwald Ripening of Liquid and Solid Droplets in Liquid Metal Matrices

Alan J. Ardell

University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA

Molecularly Tailored Surfaces via Self-Assembly Processes: Synthesis, Characterization,

and Modeling

Mark A. Barteau

University of Delaware, Newark, DE

Dispersion Microstructure and Rheology in Ceramics Processing

John F. Brady

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Combustion Synthesis of Materials in Microgravity

Kenneth Brezinsky

University of Illinois, Chicago, Chicago, IL

Application of Parallel Computing for Two- and Three-Dimensional Modeling of Bulk

Crystal Growth and Microstructure Formation

Robert A. Brown

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Microstructure Formation During Directional Solidification of Binary Alloys Without

Convection: Experiment and Computation

Robert A. Brown

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Modeling of Convection and Crystal Growth in Directional Solidification of

Semiconductor and Oxide Crystals

Robert A. Brown

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Evolution of Crystal and Amorphous Phase Structure During Processing of Thermoplastic

Polymers

Peggy Cebe

Tufts University, Medford, MA

Thermophysical Properties of High-Temperature Liquid Metals and Alloys

Ared Cezairliyan

National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD

Three-Dimensional Velocity Field Characterization in a Bridgman Apparatus: Technique

Development and Effect Analysis

Soyoung Stephen Cha

University of Illinois, Chicago, Chicago, IL

Fundamental Studies of Solidification in Microgravity Using Real-Time X-Ray

Microscopy

Peter A. Curreri

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL
34

Adaptive-Grid Methods for Phase Field Models of Microstructure Development

Jonathan A. Dantzig

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

Atomistic Simulations of Cadmium Telluride: Toward Understanding the Benefits of

Microgravity Crystal Growth

Jeffrey J. Derby

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

Combined Synchrotron White Beam X-Ray Topography and High-Resolution Triple Axis

X-Ray Diffraction Characterization and Analysis of Crystals Grown in Microgravity and

Ground-Based Experiments

Michael Dudley

State University of New York, Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY

Use of Synchrotron White Beam X-Ray Topography for the Characterization of the

Microstructural Development of Crystal – Normal Gravity Versus Microgravity

Michael Dudley

State University of New York, Stony Brook, Stony Brook, NY

Reverse Micelle-Based Synthesis of Microporous Materials in Microgravity

Prabir K. Dutta

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Studies on Nucleation, Polymerization, and Nanoparticle Composites in Supersaturated

Vapors Under Microgravity Conditions

M. Samy El-Shall

Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Vibrational Control of the Bridgman

Crystal Growth Technique

Alexandre I. Fedoseyev

University of Alabama, Huntsville, Huntsville, AL

The Impaction, Spreading, and Solidification of a Partially Solidified Undercooled Drop

Merton C. Flemings

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA

Investigation of Local Effects on Microstructure Evolution

Donald O. Frazier

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Melt Stabilization of PbSnTe in a Magnetic Field

Archibald L. Fripp

Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA

Solidification of II-VI Compounds in a Rotating Magnetic Field

Donald C. Gillies

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Effect of Gravity on the Evolution of Spatial Arrangement of Features in Microstructure:

A Quantitative Approach

Arun M. Gokhale

Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA

Plasma Dust Crystallization

John A. Goree

University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Novel Directional Solidification Processing of Hypermonotectic Alloys

Richard N. Grugel

Universities Space Research Association, 

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Utilizing Controlled Vibrations in a Microgravity Environment to Understand and

Promote Microstructural Homogeneity During Floating-Zone Crystal Growth

Richard N. Grugel

Universities Space Research Association, 

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Influence of Free Convection in Dissolution

Prabhat K. Gupta

Ohio State University, Columbus, OH

Microgravity Processing of Oxide Superconductors

William H. Hofmeister

Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN

Dimensional Stability of Supermatrix Semiconductors

Douglas E. Holmes

Electronic Materials Engineering, Camarillo, CA

Nonequilibrium Phase Transformations

Kenneth A. Jackson

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Physical Properties and Processing of Undercooled Metallic Glass-Forming Melts

William L. Johnson

California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA

Dislocation Formation During Growth of Semiconductor Crystals

Monica L. Kaforey

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

The Role of Dynamic Nucleation at Moving Boundaries in Phase and Microstructure

Selection

Alain S. Karma

Northeastern University, Boston, MA

Combined Heat Transfer Analysis of Crystal Growth

Mohammad Kassemi

Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland, OH

Identification of Gravity-Related Effects on Crystal Growth From Melts With an

Immiscibility Gap

Mohammad Kassemi

Ohio Aerospace Institute, Cleveland, OH

Measurement of Liquid-to-Solid Nucleation Rates in Undercooled Metallic 

Melts

Joseph L. Katz

Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD

Fundamentals of Thermomigration of Liquid Zones Through Solids

Michael J. Kaufman

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Phase Formation and Stability: Composition and Sample-Size Effects

Kenneth F. Kelton

Washington University, St. Louis, MO

Influence of Natural Convection and Thermal Radiation on Multicomponent Transport

and Chemistry in MOCVD Reactors

Anantha Krishnan

CFD Research Corporation, Huntsville, AL

Noise and Dynamical Pattern Selection in Solidification

Douglas A. Kurtze

University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ

Study of Magnetic Damping Effect on Convection and Solidification Under G-Jitter

Conditions

Ben Q. Li

Washington State University, Pullman, WA

Quantitative Analysis of Crystal Defects by Triple Crystal X-Ray Diffraction

Richard J. Matyi

University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI
35

Numerical and Laboratory Experiments on the Interactive Dynamics of Convection,

Flow, and Directional Solidification

Tony Maxworthy

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA

Y2BaCuO5 Segregation in YBa2Cu3O7-x During Melt Texturing

Paul J. McGinn

University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN

The Synergistic Effect of Ceramic Materials Synthesis Using Vapor-Enhanced Reactive

Sintering Under Microgravity Conditions

John J. Moore

Colorado School of Mines, Golden, CO

Crystal Growth and Segregation Using the Submerged Heater Method

Aleksandar G. Ostrogorsky

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Gravitational Effects on the Morphology and Kinetics of Photo-Deposition of

Polydiacetylene Films From Monomer Solutions

Mark S. Paley

Universities Space Research Association, 

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Investigation of “Contactless” Crystal Growth by Physical Vapor Transport

Witold Palosz

Universities Space Research Association, 

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Investigation of Convective Effects in Crystal Growth by Physical Vapor Transport

Witold Palosz

Universities Space Research Association, 

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Analysis of Containerless Processing and Undercooled Solidification Microstructures

John H. Perepezko

University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI

Containerless Processing of Composite Materials

John H. Perepezko

University of Wisconsin, Madison, Madison, WI

Modeling of Detached Solidification

Liya L. Regel

Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY

Thermophysical Property Measurement of Molten Semiconductors in 1g and ReducedGravity Conditions

Won-Kyu Rhim

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Undercooling Limits and Thermophysical Properties in Glass-Forming Alloys

Won-Kyu Rhim

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

Drop Tube Operation

Michael B. Robinson

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

A Study of the Undercooling Behavior of Immiscible Metal Alloys in the Absence of

Crucible-Induced Nucleation

Michael B. Robinson

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

Determination of the Surface Energy of Liquid Crystals From the Shape Anisotropy of

Freely Suspended Droplets

Charles S. Rosenblatt

Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Modeling of Macroscopic/Microscopic Transport and Growth Phenomena in Zeolite

Crystal Solutions Under Microgravity

Albert Sacco

Northeastern University, Boston, MA

Gravitational Effect on the Development of Laser Weld-Pool and Solidification

Microstructure

Jogender Singh

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Flight Experiment to Study Double Diffusive Instabilities in Silver-Doped Lead Bromide

Crystals

N. B. Singh

Northrop-Grumman Corporation, Pittsburgh, PA

Kinetics of Nucleation and Growth From Undercooled Melts

Frans A. Spaepen

Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

Magnetic Damping of Solid Solution Semiconductor Alloys

Frank R. Szofran

Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL

The Features of Self-Assembling Organic Bilayers Important to the Formation of

Anisotropic Inorganic Materials in Microgravity Conditions

Daniel R. Talham

University of Florida, Gainesville, FL

Dynamically Induced Nucleation of Deeply Supercooled Melts and Measurement of

Surface Tension and Viscosity

Eugene H. Trinh

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA

A Proposal to Further Investigate the Influence of Microgravity on Transport

Mechanisms in a Virtual Spaceflight Chamber

James D. Trolinger

MetroLaser, Inc., Irvine, CA

Models of Magnetic Damping for Semiconductor Crystal Growth in Microgravity

John S. Walker

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL

Process-Property-Structure Relationships in Complex Oxide Melts

Richard Weber

Containerless Research, Inc., Evanston, IL

Thin Film-Mediated Phase-Change Phenomena: Crystallization, Evaporation, and Wetting

John S. Wettlaufer

University of Washington, Seattle, WA

Defect Generation in CVT Grown Hg1-xCdxTe Epitaxial Layers Under Normal- and

Reduced-Gravity Conditions

Heribert Wiedemeier

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, NY

Use of Microgravity to Control the Microstructure of Eutectics

William R. Wilcox

Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
36

Acceleration measurement is the process by which knowledge

of the microgravity environment is acquired, processed, analyzed,

and passed on to the microgravity principal investigators (PIs).

The PIs utilize this information during the interpretation of

their science experiment results. Measuring the microgravity

conditions of a microgravity science experiment is as crucial as

measuring the temperature of a thermodynamics experiment.

Accelerations (commonly interpreted as vibrations) cause disturbances such as convection, sedimentation, and mixing within

microgravity science experiments. 

Fluid motion, which is involved in most microgravity

experiments, is strongly influenced by accelerations. In materials

science experiments, for example, heavier elements, like mercury,

tend to settle out of solution with steady accelerations. Hot gases

in combustion experiments tend to move due to convection

caused by low-frequency accelerations. Fluid movement due to

accelerations may mask desired fluid characteristics, like surface

tension, in some fluids experiments. Mechanical vibrations over

a wide range of frequencies may cause drastic temperature

changes in low-temperature physics experiments, where the

samples are at temperatures close to absolute zero. 

The primary objective of the acceleration measurement

program is to characterize the reduced-gravity environment of

the various experiment carriers, like the space shuttle; the Russian

space station, Mir; sounding rockets; and the International Space

Station, in order to provide useful information to scientists

who conduct their experiments on such carriers. The Space

Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS) has flown 18 missions

since its first flight on the 40th Space Transportation System

(STS-40) in 1991. SAMS units have flown in support of microgravity science experiments in the shuttle middeck, in the

Spacelab module, on the Spacelab Mission Peculiar Experiment

Support Structure, and in the SPACEHAB module. Experiments

from all of the science disciplines have been supported on the

shuttle. One SAMS unit was installed on Mir in 1994 and has

been operated since then to support U.S. and Russian microgravity

science and mechanical structure experiments. 

The Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE)

has flown 10 missions since its first flight on STS-40. The OARE

instrument measures very low-frequency accelerations. 

In fiscal year (FY) 1997, the inaugural mission involving

the Space Acceleration Measurement System for Free Flyers

(SAMS-FF) was conducted on a sounding rocket flight with a

combustion experiment. A SAMS unit has also flown on the

DC-9 reduced-gravity airplane to characterize the environment

produced during parabolic flight on that facility. The acceleration

measurement program has sponsored the flight of two European

accelerometer systems to support the Life and Microgravity

Spacelab (LMS) and Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL)

missions. The Microgravity Measurement Assembly (MMA),

developed by the European Space Agency (ESA), and the QuasiSteady Acceleration Measurement instrument (QSAM), developed by the German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR),

were flown in FY 1996 and FY 1997. 

The acceleration measurement program also works with

other microgravity program participants, such as vibration isolation programs, to lend assistance with data processing, interpretation, and analysis. The information collected and produced

by this program is available by means of mission summary reports,

data files on CD-ROM and Internet file servers, and specialized

analysis reports for scientists. Some of the highlights of the FY

1997 acceleration measurement program are discussed below: 

• Data resulting from accelerometers aboard the LMS mission

(STS-78) were analyzed, and a mission summary report 

was prepared to summarize the microgravity environment 

for that mission. The accelerometers aboard this mission 

were SAMS, OARE, and MMA. Processed and analyzed 

data were provided to the various experiment teams during

and after the mission. A summary report describing the 

microgravity environment was prepared after the mission 

and provided to the PI teams and other mission participants.

• Data resulting from the SAMS in the SPACEHAB module 

on STS-79 during the space shuttle’s docking with Mir were

analyzed, and a mission summary report was prepared to 

summarize the microgravity environment. Processed and 

analyzed data were provided to the various experiment 

teams during and after the mission. A summary report 

describing the microgravity environment was prepared 

after the mission and provided to the PI teams and other 

mission participants. 

• Data resulting from the SAMS on Mir were analyzed, 

and summary reports were prepared to characterize the 

microgravity environment on the station. Processed and 

analyzed data were provided to the various experiment 

teams. The acceleration measurement program has 

cooperated also with Mir’s Structural Dynamics 

Experiment and the Dynamic Load Sensors experiment. 

• MSL–1 (STS-83) and MSL–1R (STS-94) were both 

supported with accelerometers and data processing and 

interpretation. The accelerometers aboard these missions 

were SAMS, OARE, MMA, and QSAM. Real-time data 

were received, processed, and interpreted during the 

mission to support the PI teams and their experiment

operations. A summary report describing the microgravity 

environment was prepared after the mission and provided 

to the PI teams and other mission participants. 

• Preparations have continued for the fourth United States 

Microgravity Payload (USMP–4) mission on STS-87. 

5 Acceleration Measurement

Overview
37

On this mission, two SAMS instruments will provide 

acceleration measurements for four major experiments, 

and the OARE instrument will provide data about the

low-frequency environment of the vehicle. A display on a 

crew computer will provide feedback about the microgravity

environment to the crew.

Meetings

The Sixteenth Microgravity Measurements Group (MGMG)

meeting was held in May 1997 at the University of Florida,

Gainesville. This meeting was highlighted in an article in

Microgravity News, vol. 4, no. 2. The annual MGMG meetings

provide a forum for researchers involved in microgravity environment characterization to share the results of their work. The

topics at this year’s meeting were experimental results, vibration

isolation, acceleration data evaluation, low-level gravity research,

and new developments. The attendees this year included participants from space agencies, industry, and academia from Canada,

the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands,

Russia, and the United States. 

The Accelerations and Countermeasures in the Reduced

Gravity Environment session of the 35th American Institute of

Aeronautics and Astronautics Aerospace Sciences Meeting was

chaired by the acceleration measurement project scientist,

Richard Delombard of Lewis Research Center. A panel session

was also organized that brought together experts in vibration

isolation to describe and discuss aspects of the Suppression of

Transient Accelerations By Levitation experiment, the Active

Rack Isolation System, and Microgravity Isolation Mount system.

Program personnel co-chaired two residual accelerations

sessions at the Joint Xth European and VIth Russian Symposium

on Physical Sciences in Microgravity conference in June 1997 in

St. Petersburg, Russia. 

A poster titled “Microgravity Environment Measurements

and Analysis for PIs” was presented at the Gordon Research

Conference on Gravitational Effects on Physico-Chemical Systems

in July 1997 at New England College, Henniker, New Hampshire. 

Flight Experiments

The 17th flight for a SAMS unit took place in the Spacelab

module aboard the STS-83 mission as part of the first MSL 

payload. The OARE instrument was flown in the shuttle 

cargo bay on that same mission for its ninth flight. Both the

SAMS and OARE instruments were again flown on the 

STS-94 reflight of the MSL payload for their 18th and

10th flights, respectively. 
Advanced Technology Development 1997

The Advanced Technology Development (ATD) Program

was developed in response to the challenges researchers face

when defining experiment requirements and designing associated

hardware. Investing in technology development is necessary if the

United States intends to remain a top competitor in future scientific

research. ATD researchers help ensure that the nation continues

its forward strides in the fields of technology development and

scientific experimentation.

Technology development projects are designed to address 

scientific concerns, both focused and broadly based. Focused 

development projects ensure the availability of technologies that

satisfy the science requirement of specific flight- or ground-based

programs. Broadly based development projects encompass a longterm, proactive approach to meeting the needs of future projects and

missions, such as the human exploration and development of space.

The Microgravity Research Division (MRD) solicits new

ATD projects each year and selects the very best for funding.

New ATD projects are solicited through a two-step process, for

which NASA centers are eligible. First, concept papers are solicited

from each NASA center involved in microgravity research. Next,

the MRD director and ATD program manager form an ATD

Review Panel consisting of microgravity science representatives

from each NASA center and from the MRD program at NASA

headquarters. The panel reviews concept papers for their technical

merit and significance to the microgravity field, and selects candidates

for further consideration.

These successful candidates must submit fully detailed ATD

proposals. Proposals are peer-reviewed by experts in corresponding

technology areas who are selected from non-NASA organizations.

Final selections are made based on the panel’s recommendations,

which are based on relevance to the anticipated technology needs of

the Microgravity Research Program, potential for success, and potential for the project to enable new types of microgravity investigations.

Further details on these tasks may be found in the complementary document Microgravity Science and Applications Program

Tasks and Bibliography for FY 1997, NASA Technical Memorandum

206645, February 1998.

Microgravity Technology Development Goals

The ATD Program is intended to provide efficient, costeffective, and ongoing support for microgravity science investigations. The primary goal of the ATD Program is to develop 

technology that will enable new types of scientific investigation.

This goal is achieved by enhancing the capabilities and quality of

experiment hardware available to researchers and by overcoming

existing technology-based constraints to microgravity science

research capabilities. The ATD Program provides opportunities 

to carry out the goals of NASA’s Microgravity Research Program

by conducting state-of-the-art technology development.

MRD funds technology development through an initial feasibility demonstration that verifies whether or not a technology is

suitable for use in either ground-based or flight programs. The

goal is to investigate and develop high-risk microgravity research

technologies before they are needed on the critical development

path for actual flight hardware.

Depending on its state of maturity, the technology developed

under the ATD Program may either make a direct transition to

use in a specific ground-based or flight program, or require further

development to satisfy a specific program requirement. Ideally, the

successful progression or completion of an ATD task will reduce

risk and cost in the transition from ground-based research to flight

hardware design and application in the MRD.

Scope of Projects

Historically, ATD projects have encompassed a broad range

of activities. Project funding includes the development of diagnostic

instrumentation and measurement techniques, observational

instrumentation and data recording methods, acceleration characterization and control techniques, and advanced methodologies

associated with hardware design technology.

In fiscal year (FY) 1997, five NASA centers were involved in

the MRD ATD Program: Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC),

the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Johnson Space Center (JSC),

Lewis Research Center (LeRC), and Marshall Space Flight Center

(MSFC). The current projects, listed in Table 8, illustrate the breadth

of technologies covered by the ATD Program.

38

6 Technology and Hardware

Table 8 Current ATD projects

Magnetostrictive Low-Temperature Actuators

Robert Chave, JPL, Pasadena, California

The objective of this project is to further the development of lowtemperature magnetostrictive materials. Reducing the cost and

increasing the uniformity of magnetostrictive crystals will enhance

potential applications. Future applications could include acoustic

pumps for microgravity cryogen transfer or magnetometers that

use magnetostrictive crystals as the primary sensor element and

fiber optics for readout.

Advanced Heat Pipe Technology for Furnace Element Design in Spaceflight

Applications

Donald Gillies, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

This project focuses on the development of a heat pipe that 

will operate as an isothermal furnace liner capable of processing

materials at temperatures up to 1500° C (400° C higher than existing

technology). The isothermality and tight control of the heat pipe

will enable materials science experiments to be conducted under

more favorable thermal conditions.
39

Space Bioreactor Bioproduct Recovery System

Steve Gonda, JSC, Houston, Texas

The purpose of this effort is to develop a Bioproduct Recovery

System (BRS) that allows the selective removal of molecules of

interest from space bioreactors, thus enhancing the productivity of

those bioreactors. The BRS will be miniaturized to meet volume

and power constraints, and designed to operate in microgravity.

Advanced Diagnostics for Combustion 

Paul Greenberg, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

The goal of this project is to develop a series of more sophisticated

measurement techniques applicable to the general area of microgravity combustion science in order to improve the accuracy and

spatial/temporal yield of the data acquired, and to extend the

range of applicability and access to the relevant parameters

presently inaccessible through current methods.

Manufacturing of Refractory Containment Cartridges

Dick Holmes, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

This project focuses on using plasma spray in a low-pressure, inert

environment to form containment cartridges to be used for growing

crystals of metals, alloys, and semiconductors in microgravity. 

Free-Float Trajectory Management

Kirk Logsdon, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

The objective of this work is to develop the technology for an

extended, consistently reproducible acceleration environment during the stabilized low-gravity phase of the flight trajectory in DC-9

aircraft, specifically for free-float packages. The goals are to extend

the free-float time to 10 seconds or longer and to obtain stable accelerations of 0.0001 g or lower in a consistent, reproducible manner.

Passive Free-Vortex Separator

John McQuillen, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

The objective of this project is to develop an effective, low-power,

two-phase separation system. The system will enable the separation

of two-phase flows for reuse during long-term spaceflight.

Laser Light Scattering With Multiple Scattering Suppression

William Meyer, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

This project provides a simple and novel optical scheme that overcomes multiple scattering effects in turbid media. In addition, ways

to experimentally measure and provide a full analytical solution for

double, triple, and higher-order scattering are being developed.

Surface Light Scattering

William Meyer, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

This project enables a new way of addressing surface sloshing that

will allow the measurement of both surface tension and viscosity

for transparent and optically accessible opaque media. 

Laser-Feedback Interferometer

Ben Ovryn, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

The objectives of this ATD project are to evaluate, adapt, and

deliver a novel form of interferometry, based upon laser-feedback

techniques, that will provide a robust, versatile, state-of-the-art

diagnostic instrument applicable to a wide variety of microgravity

fluid physics and transport phenomena. The instrument can be

used to measure both temporal and spatial change in optical path

length and object reflectivity.

Development of an Electrostrictive Valve

David Pearson, JPL, Pasadena, California

The objectives of this ATD project are to develop a miniature cold

valve with no moving parts for use as an active phase separator for

liquid helium and to study the ability of a submicron aperture to

act as a tunable Josephson junction in 4He.

A Protein Crystal Growth Studies Cell

Marc Pusey, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

The primary goal of this project is to design and construct prototype cells and associated systems for the study of the protein crystal

growth process. A second goal is to develop practical methods for

storing proteins prior to use in crystal growth and other experiments.

High-Resolution Thermometry and Improved SQUID Readout

Peter Shirron, GSFC, Greenbelt, Maryland

The goal of this project is to develop high-resolution thermometers

that overcome current problems such as radiation. A high-resolution

penetration depth thermometer using a two-stage series array

superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) amplifier

for readout will be more simple, cost-effective, and sensitive than

existing technology.

Application of Superconducting Cavities to Microgravity Research

Don Strayer, JPL, Pasadena, California

This ATD project has two main objectives: (1) to use modern

microwave electronics; high quality factor, low-temperature

superconducting cavities; and high-resolution temperature control

to develop an ultrastable oscillator system that will provide a 

comparison oscillator for the laser-cooled atomic oscillators now

under development in the microgravity research program; and 

(2) to develop high-temperature superconductor materials, high

quality factor cavities, and electronics that can be integrated with a

small cryocooler to provide an easy-to-use materials characterization

system for use on the International Space Station (ISS).

Determination of Soot Volume Fraction via Laser-Induced Incandescence

Randall Vander Wal, LeRC, Cleveland, Ohio

Laser-induced incandescence (LII) is being developed for 

microgravity combustion research as a two-dimensional imaging

diagnostic for the measurement of soot volume fraction. LII, in

conjunction with other optical imaging techniques, provides

unparalleled temporal and spatial resolution, yielding insights 

into soot formation and oxidation processes.

Vibration Isolation and Control System for Small Microgravity Payloads

Mark Whorton, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

This project will deliver an active isolation device to provide a

quiescent acceleration environment required for investigations

to be carried out on the ISS. 

A New Ultrahigh-Resolution Near-Field Microscope for Observation of Protein

Crystal Growth

William Witherow, MSFC, Huntsville, Alabama

The primary objective of this ATD project is to build and test a

new optical method for observing protein crystals as they nucleate

and grow based on a tapered-fiber probe in a near-field scanning

optical microscope.
40

Microgravity Technology Report

NASA’s Microgravity Technology Report covers technology policies, development, and transfer activities within the Microgravity

Research Program from FY 1978 through FY 1997. It also describes

the recent major tasks initiated under the ATD Program and identifies current technology requirements. The FY 1997 Microgravity

Technology Report is available as a companion to this annual MRP

report.

Experiment Hardware 

for Space Shuttle and Mir Flights

Significant efforts continued in fiscal year 1997 in preparation of

multiuser and experiment-unique apparatus for missions using the space

shuttle and the Russian space station, Mir. Listed in Table 9 are Space

Transportation System (STS) missions with significant microgravity

experiments, followed by short descriptions of the U.S.-developed flight

experimental apparatus that have been in use and are under development in the Microgravity Research Program to support those missions.

A list of flight experiment hardware being developed by international

partners that will be used by U.S. investigators appears in Table 10.

Table 9 STS missions with major microgravity equipment on board, chronologically by launch date

April 1985 STS-51B SL–3 Spacelab–3

Jan. 1986 STS-61C Materials Science Demonstrations

Jan. 1992 STS-41 IML–1 International Microgravity Laboratory–1

June 1992 STS-50 USML–1 United States Microgravity Laboratory–1

Oct. 1992 STS-52 USMP–1 United States Microgravity Payload–1

March 1994 STS-62 USMP–2 United States Microgravity Payload–2

July 1994 STS-65 IML–2 International Microgravity Laboratory–2

June 1995 STS-71 Mir–1 Shuttle/Mir–1

July 1995 STS-70 Shuttle

Sept. 1995 STS-69 * Wake Shield Facility, Shuttle Pointed

Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy

(SPARTAN)

Oct. 1995 STS-72 USML–2 International Microgravity Laboratory–2

Nov. 1995 STS-74 Mir–2 Shuttle/Mir–2

Feb. 1996 STS-75 USMP–3 United States Microgravity Payload–3

March 1996 STS-76 Mir–3 Shuttle/Mir–3

June 1996 STS-78 LMS Life and Microgravity Spacelab

Sept. 1996 STS-79 Mir–4 Shuttle/Mir–4

Jan. 1997 STS-81 Mir–5 Shuttle/Mir–5

April 1997 STS-83 MSL–1 Microgravity Science Laboratory–1

May 1997 STS-84 Mir–6 Shuttle/Mir–6

July 1997 STS-94 MSL–1R Microgravity Science Laboratory–Reflight

Aug. 1997 STS-85 CRISTA–SPAS–2, Japanese Experiment

Module Flight Demonstration

Sept. 1997 STS-86 Mir–7 Shuttle/Mir–7

Nov. 1997 STS-87 USMP–4 United States Microgravity Payload–4

Jan. 1998 STS-89 Mir–8 Shuttle/Mir–8

March 1998 STS-90 Neurolab

Feb. 2001 STS-113 MSP–1 Microgravity Science Payload–1

Launch Date Flight Mission Full Name

* Middeck and Get Away Special (GAS) microgravity payloads only.

GAS payloads also flew on STS-40, -41, -43, -45, -47, -54, -57, -60, -63, -64, -66, -72, and -77.
41

Advanced Automated Directional Solidification Furnace: This instrument

is a modified Bridgman-Stockbarger furnace for directional

solidification and crystal growth. (USMP–2, USMP–3,

USMP–4)

Bioreactor Demonstration Unit (BDU): The BDU is a rotating 

cylinder bioreactor that is supported by subsystems that 

provide media perfusion and exchange, incubator temperature

control, and data storage. It is useful for the investigation of

cell science and tissue engineering. (STS-70, Shuttle/Mir–4,

Shuttle/Mir–8)

Biotechnology Refrigerator (BTR): The BTR has a refrigerated 

volume of 0.58 cubic feet with forced air convection. It is

programmable with a temperature range of 4° C to 50° C.

(Shuttle/Mir–7, Shuttle/Mir–8, Neurolab)

Biotechnology Specimen Temperature Controller (BSTC): BSTC is a 

programmable cell culture incubator that can be used for

flight experiments in cell biology, microbiology, and tissue

engineering. The current version has four individually 

controlled chambers with a temperature range of 4° C 

to 50° C. (Shuttle/Mir–7, Neurolab)

Biotechnology System: This instrument is composed of a rotating

wall vessel bioreactor, a control computer, a fluid supply system,

and a refrigerator for sample storage. (Mir)

Combustion Module-1: This module is being developed to perform

multiple combustion experiments in orbit; the first two

experiments were the Laminar Soot Processes experiment

and the Structure of Flameballs at Low Lewis Number

experiment. (MSL–1, MSL–1R)

Confined Helium Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus provides 

a thermometer resolution better than 100 picodegrees in

measuring properties of helium samples confined to a twodimensional state. It flew in the Low-Temperature Platform,

where it was used to test finite size effects under controlled

conditions to uncover underlying fundamental principles.

(USMP–4)

Critical Fluid Light Scattering Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus

provides a microkelvin-controlled thermal environment 

for performing dynamic light scattering and turbidity 

measurements of room-temperature critical fluids.

(USMP–2, USMP–3)

Critical Viscosity of Xenon Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus 

provides a precision-controlled thermal environment

(microkelvin) and an oscillating screen viscometer to 

perform viscosity measurements of room-temperature 

critical fluids. (STS-85)

Crystal Growth Furnace: This instrument is a modified BridgmanStockbarger furnace for crystal growth from a melt or vapor.

(USML–1, USML–2)

Diffusion-Controlled Protein Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity

(DCAM): The DCAM hardware, which was designed for 

long-duration protein crystal growth on Mir, combines 

liquid-liquid diffusion and dialysis methods to effect protein

crystal growth. Each DCAM tray assembly consists of 27

DCAM experiment chambers containing precipitant solutions

and protein sample solutions. (Shuttle/Mir–4, Shuttle/Mir–5,

Shuttle/Mir–6)

Drop Physics Module: This apparatus is designed to investigate

the surface properties of various suspended liquid drops, to

study surface and internal features of drops that are being

vibrated and rotated, and to test a new technique for measuring the surface tension between two immiscible fluids.

(USML–1, USML–2)

Droplet Combustion Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus is designed

to study droplet behavior during combustion by measuring

burning rates, extinction phenomena, disruptive burning,

and soot production. (MSL–1, MSL–1R)

Gas Supply Module (GSM): The GSM provides a carbon dioxideenriched air supply for the support of mammalian cell culture

in the bioreactors. (Shuttle/Mir–4, Shuttle/Mir–8)

Gaseous Nitrogen (GN2) Dewar Protein Crystal Growth Experiment Apparatus:

The GN2 dewar is a device that can maintain samples at

cryogenic temperatures for about 13 days. Frozen liquidliquid diffusion and batch protein crystal growth experiments

are launched in a GN2 dewar and then allowed to thaw to

initiate the crystallization process in a microgravity environment.

The GN2 dewar houses a protein crystal growth insert that

typically holds approximately 200 protein samples.

(Shuttle/Mir–4, Shuttle/Mir–5, Shuttle/Mir–6)

Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell: This instrument uses electrostatic

forces to simulate gravity in a radially symmetric vector

field, centrally directed toward the center of the cell. This

allows investigators to perform visualizations of thermal

convection and other research-related topics in planetary

atmospheres and stars. (Spacelab–3, USML–2)

Interferometer for Protein Crystal Growth (IPCG): The IPCG is an

apparatus designed to operate in the Mir glovebox to measure

details of how protein molecules move through a fluid and

then form crystals. IPCG comprises three major systems

designed to produce images showing density changes in a

fluid as a crystal forms: an interferometer, six fluid assemblies,

and a data system. (Shuttle/Mir–7)

Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus 

is being used to study the growth of dendritic crystals in

transparent materials that simulate the solidification of 

some aspects of pure metals and metal alloy systems.

(USMP–2, USMP–3, USMP–4)
42

Lambda Point Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus provides temperature

control in the part-per-billion range of a bulk helium sample

near the superfluid transition at 2 K for testing the theory of

critical phenomena under well-controlled static conditions. It

flew in the Low-Temperature Platform. (USMP–1)

Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics Cryogenic Dewar: This apparatus

supports different experiments, including the Lambda Point

Experiment, the Confined Helium Experiment, and the Critical

Dynamics in Microgravity experiment. (USMP–4, MSP–1)

Low-Temperature Platform: This apparatus provides a 2 K environment

for fundamental physics experiments for up to 12 days on the

shuttle. It also provides the mechanical and data interfaces

between the experiment and the shuttle carrier. The apparatus

supported the Lamba Point Experiment and the Confined

Helium Experiment. (USMP–1, USMP–4)

Mechanics of Granular Materials Experiment Apparatus: This instrument

uses microgravity to gain a quantitative understanding of the

mechanical behavior of cohesionless granular materials under

very low confining pressures. (Shuttle/Mir–4, Shuttle/Mir–8)

Microgravity Glovebox: This is a modified middeck glovebox designed

for Mir that will enable the collection of scientific and technological

data prior to major investments in the development of more

sophisticated scientific instruments. (Mir)

Microgravity Smoldering Combustion Apparatus: This apparatus is used to

determine the smoldering characteristics of combustible materials

in microgravity environments. (STS-69)

Middeck Glovebox: The glovebox is a multidisciplinary facility used

for small scientific and technological investigations. (USMP–3,

USMP–4, MSP–1)

Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment Apparatus: This instrument is

developed to measure very low-frequency accelerations on 

orbit such as atmospheric drag and gravity gradient effects.

(Multiple missions)

Physics of Hard Spheres Experiment Apparatus: This hardware supports

an investigation studying the processes associated with liquidto-solid and crystalline-to-glassy phase transitions. (MSL–1,

MSL–1R)

Pool Boiling Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus is capable of

autonomous operation for initiating, observing, and recording

nucleate pool boiling phenomena. (Multiple missions)

Protein Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity (PCAM): The PCAM is

used to evaluate the effects of gravity on vapor diffusion protein

crystal growth and to produce improved protein crystals in

microgravity for determination of molecular structures. Each

PCAM cylinder contains 9 crystallization plates, each having 7

sample chambers, for a total of 63 chambers per cylinder. The

total number of samples that can be flown in a Single-Locker

Thermal Enclosure System unit is 378. (MSL–1, MSL–1R, STS-85)

Second-Generation Vapor Diffusion Apparatus (VDA-2): The VDA-2 trays

are protein crystal growth devices based on a syringe assembly

design to provide mixing of protein and precipitant solutions in

microgravity. A mixing chamber (third barrel) has been added

to the original double-barreled VDA syringes to improve mixing

during activation of vapor diffusion protein crystal growth flight

experiments. A Single-Locker Thermal Enclosure System (STES)

can accommodate four VDA-2 trays. Each VDA-2 tray has 20

sample chambers, for a total of 80 samples per STES. (MSL–1,

MSL–1R, Shuttle/Mir–6)

Single-Locker Thermal Enclosure System: The STES replaces a single

middeck locker and provides a controlled temperature environment

within plus or minus 0.5° C of a set point in the range from 4° C

to 40° C. The STES houses a variety of protein crystal growth

experiment apparatus, including the PCAM and VDA-2.

(MSL–1, MSL–1R, Shuttle/Mir–6)

Solid Surface Combustion Experiment Apparatus: This instrument is designed

to determine the mechanism of gas-phase flame spread over

solid fuel surfaces in the absence of buoyancy-induced or 

externally imposed gas-phase flow. (Multiple missions)

Space Acceleration Measurement System (SAMS): SAMS measures and

records the acceleration environment in the space shuttle 

middeck and cargo bay, in the Spacelab, in SPACEHAB, 

and on Mir. (Multiple missions)

Surface Tension-Driven Convection Experiment Apparatus: This apparatus 

is designed to provide fundamental knowledge of 

thermocapillary flows and fluid motion generated by 

surface tension and temperature gradients along a free

surface. (USML–1, USML–2)

Transitional/Turbulent Gas Jet Diffusion Flames Experiment Apparatus: This

instrument is used to study the role of large-scale flame 

structures in microgravity transitional gas jet flames. (Get 

Away Special Experiment)
43

Table 10 Flight experiment hardware developed by international partners and used by NASA’s 

Microgravity Research Program

Advanced Gradient Heating Furnace European Space Agency (ESA)

Advanced Protein Crystallization Facility ESA

Biolab German Aerospace Research Establishment (DLR)

Bubble, Drop, and Particle Unit ESA

Critical Point Facility ESA

Cryostat DLR

Electromagnetic Containerless Processing Facility (TEMPUS) DLR

Electrophoresis, Recherché Appliqué sur les Methods French National Center for Space Studies (CNES) 

de Separation en Electrophorese Spatiale (RAMSES)

Free Flow Electrophoresis Unit National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA)

Gloveboxes* ESA

Large Isothermal Furnace NASDA

Apparatus for Studying Interesting Solidification Phenomena CNES

on Earth and in Space (MEPHISTO)

Microgravity Isolation Mount Canadian Space Agency (CSA)

Microgravity Measurement Assembly ESA

Mirror Furnace NASDA

Quasi-Steady Acceleration Measurement DLR

* Middeck Glovebox, Microgravity Glovebox

Space Station Facilities for Microgravity Research

The Microgravity Research Program (MRP) continues to

develop several multiuser facilities specifically designed for longduration scientific research aboard the ISS. To obtain an optimal

balance between science capabilities, costs, and risks, facility

requirements definitions have been aligned with evolving space

station capabilities. In total, the MRP has now defined requirements

for five multiuser facilities for the ISS:

• Biotechnology Facility (BTF).

• Fluids and Combustion Facility (FCF).

• Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics Facility (LTMPF).

• Materials Science Research Facility (MSRF).

• Microgravity Science Glovebox (MSG).

The BTF will accommodate systems to address cell growth,

tissue engineering, protein crystal growth, and fundamental

biotechnology research using the microgravity environment and

the extended mission time of the space station. In addition, this

facility will handle the hardware for new areas of biotechnology

research that are being explored. Due to funding limitations, it

was decided to use the capabilities of the EXpedite Processing of

Experiments to Space Station (EXPRESS) rack facility to handle

the needs of biotechnology research during the early phases of the 

space station. The development of the BTF as a facility dedicated

to meet the comprehensive needs of biotechnology researchers has

been delayed to a later phase in the space station’s operational life.

The FCF will be a permanent on-orbit facility located inside

the U.S. Laboratory Module of the ISS. The FCF will support

NASA Human Exploration and Development of Space microgravity program objectives. In particular, the FCF will accommodate and facilitate sustained, systematic microgravity fluid physics

and combustion science experimentation on the ISS for the lifetime

of the ISS, defined as 10 years with an option to extend to 15 years.

The FCF is being developed predominantly in-house by

Lewis Research Center, which also has responsibility for the management of NASA’s microgravity fluid physics and combustion

science programs. The FCF capabilities and development schedule have been tightly integrated with the scientific needs and

schedules of these programs. As a consequence, the most promising principal investigators (PIs) currently funded by NASA have

been scheduled to FCF availability beyond the year 2004 — a PI’s

actual flight date will be determined at a later date, based on

merit. This integrated approach assures the maximum scientific

relevancy and return at the lowest cost.

The FCF held its concept design review (CoDR) in

December 1994 and its requirements definition review (RDR) 
44

in October 1996. Since the CoDR, the projected development 

cost of the FCF has been cut in half while the projected scientific

productivity has been more than doubled. Compared to NASAfunded microgravity fluids and combustion experiments on the

space shuttle, ISS FCF experiments will cost about one-fifth to

one-third as much to build. The FCF requires three on-orbit

racks working together to get the necessary economies.

During FY 1997, the RDR hardware concept was substantially

revised to allow the three FCF racks to be launched at intervals

of approximately one year. In 2001, a Combustion Integrated Rack

will be launched, followed by a Fluids Integrated Rack in 2002

and a Shared Accommodations Rack in 2003. At that time,

equipment will be moved among the three racks to create the

originally envisioned three-rack FCF system, which will perform

the full range of fluids and combustion experiments. The FCF

project will be operating with a minimal staff through at least 1998.

The LTMPF project combined minimal resources at investigator, industry, and JPL facilities into subteams of adequate size

to deliver value-added products in FY 1997. The combined 

definition team is generating the infrastructure for developing

ISS-era instrument requirements through fast prototyping/testing

cycles. The test infrastructure, including an instrumented, shakable,

cryogenic system, was completed in FY 1997. Development of a

laboratory version of the LTMPF electronics controller was started

in partnership with Stanford University. A LTMPF CoDR was

tentatively scheduled for the end of FY 1998. The Critical Dynamics

in Microgravity experiment was added as an LTMPF flight

experiment candidate in August 1997, and it is expected that two

additional flight definition investigations may be selected from

1996 NASA Research Announcement proposals.

The MSRF is designed to support the current and evolving

group of U.S. peer-selected investigations. It will provide the

facilities for satisfying near-term and long-range materials science

program goals and objectives in a microgravity environment 

on the ISS. The MSRF consists of a multiple array of modular

Materials Science Research Racks (MSRRs) designed to accommodate investigations in basic materials research, applications,

and studies of phenomena involved in solidification of metals and

crystal growth studies of various semiconductor materials. These

investigations require sustained, systematic research and development to identify and characterize the effects of reduced gravity.

The modular racks will support materials science investigations in the U.S. Laboratory Module of the ISS. Each MSRR is 

a stand-alone, autonomous rack and will be comprised of experiment modules that can be replaced on orbit; module inserts; and

investigation-unique apparatus and/or multiuser, generic processing

apparatus that will support a wide variety of scientific investigations. The first MSRR (MSRR-1) planned for the ISS is being

developed collaboratively by NASA and ESA, and is scheduled

for launch on UF–3 in late 2001.

The NASA/ESA accommodations will occupy up to half 

of a rack, with the remainder of the rack dedicated to NASA.

Inserts will house the sample or sample cartridge, will contain

heating elements, and can be changed out on orbit. They are

envisioned for Bridgman-type crystal growth, isothermal applications, and a variety of other experiments. MSRR-2 and subsequent

racks will satisfy investigations that have specific or unique facility

requirements that cannot be satisfied with an insert. 

The NASA/ESA accommodations definition is in Phase B,

with Phase B completion planned for February 1998. An international Materials Science Workshop was held October 13–14, 1997,

in Rome, Italy. The workshop provided a forum to continue dialogue between international partners on cooperative development

and sharing of research facilities.

The MSG is a multidisciplinary facility for small, low-cost,

rapid-response scientific and technological investigations in the

areas of biotechnology, combustion science, fluid physics, fundamental physics, and materials science, allowing preliminary data

to be collected and analyzed prior to any major investment in

sophisticated scientific and technological instrumentation.

Negotiations with ESA have been completed for the provision of

the MSG by ESA in exchange for early access to ISS capabilities.

The MSG completed its preliminary design review in April 1997,

and will begin the critical design review process in January 1998.

Deployment of the MSG to the ISS is tentatively planned for

UF–2 in March 2000.

Ground-Based Microgravity Research Support

Facilities

During FY 1997, NASA continued to maintain very productive reduced-gravity research ground facilities that include a drop

tower, a drop tube, DC-9 and KC-135 parabolic flight aircraft,

the Zero Gravity Facility, and several other facilities in support of

the MRP. These facilities provide a unique and critical infrastructure

necessary for the execution of the many flight- and ground-based

investigations and experiments discussed in this report. The

reduced-gravity facilities at LeRC have supported numerous

investigations addressing various processes and phenomena in

several research disciplines for the past 30 years. LeRC’s drop

tower and a DC-9 aircraft are able to provide a low-gravity 

environment (gravitational levels that range from 0.01 of Earth’s

gravitational acceleration to 0.0001 of that measured at the Earth’s

surface) for brief periods of time. “Zero gravity,” or near weightlessness, also known as microgravity, can be created in these facilities by executing a freefall or semi-freefall condition where the

force of gravity on an object is offset by its linear acceleration

during a “fall” (a drop in a tower or a parabolic maneuver by an

aircraft). The low-gravity environment obtained “on the ground”

in the NASA facilities is similar to that of a spacecraft in an orbit

around the Earth. Even though ground-based facilities offer relatively short experiment times of a few to 20 seconds, this available

test time has been found to be sufficient to advance the scientific

understanding of many phenomena. Also, many experiments

scheduled to fly on sounding rockets, the fleet of space shuttles,
45

Space Station Mir, and the International Space Station are tested

and validated in the ground facilities prior to testing in space.

Experimental studies in a low-gravity environment can provide

new discoveries and advance the fundamental understanding of

science. Many tests performed in the NASA facilities, particularly

in the disciplines of combustion science and fluid physics, have

resulted in exciting findings that are documented in a large body

of literature. 

The LeRC facilities host scientists and engineers, both

domestic and foreign, from universities and government agencies.

Typically, on an annual basis, well over 100 microgravity 

experiments are supported by these unique national resources.

The following information highlights the accomplishments

of these facilities in FY 1997.

Able to accommodate several experiments during a single

flight, LeRC’s DC-9 aircraft represents the largest ground-based,

reduced-gravity platform. Low-gravity conditions of approximately

20 seconds can be obtained by flying a parabolic trajectory that

includes a rapid climb at about 55–60 degrees, a slow pushover at

the top of the climb, and a descent angle of about 30–40 degrees.

During the course of this maneuver, an altitude change of

approximately 6000 feet is experienced. Over 50 of these maneuvers

can be performed on a single flight.

The DC-9 continued to play a key role in microgravity

research in FY 1997. The aircraft flew 73 flights with 3,313 

trajectories accomplished in 180 flight hours. Thirty-eight

investigations were supported, many of which flew multiple times.

Some of the key highlights included astronaut crew training for

several experiments that flew on MSL–1 and MSL–1R. Also, the

president of the CSA, William Evans; and the Canadian Minister

of Industry, John Manly, participated in research flights that had

CSA-sponsored experiments on board. These milestones were all

reached prior to July 21, at which time the DC-9 was eliminated

from the microgravity program. Future reduced-gravity aircraft

flights will be performed on JSC’s KC-135 aircraft. Six to 12

flight campaigns will be conducted out of LeRC every year with

this aircraft. In FY 1997, four experiments were performed during

223 trajectories over 10.9 flight hours.

The LeRC 2.2-Second Drop Tower obviously offers a shorter

test time than the DC-9 or KC-135, but its simple mode of operation

and capability of performing several tests per day make it an

attractive and highly utilized test facility, particularly for performing

evaluation and feasibility tests. Over 16,000 tests have been 

performed in the drop tower to date. During FY 1997, as in

the past several years, drop tests averaged about 100 per month.

Reduced-gravity conditions in the drop towers are created by

dropping an experiment in an enclosure, known as a drag shield,

to isolate the test hardware from aerodynamic drag during a 24-m

freefall in the open environment. Over 30 experiments were supported during the 1,200 drops performed in FY 1997. As in the past,

several of these experiments were in support of the development of

space shuttle experiments. The steady utilization of the drop tower

is expected to continue as many new experiments are in the design

and fabrication phases of development for the coming years.

The Zero Gravity Research Facility at LeRC, a registered

U.S. national landmark, provides a quiescent low-gravity 

environment for a test duration of 5.18 seconds as experiments

are dropped in a vacuum chamber that goes 132 m underground.

Aerodynamic drag on the freely falling experiment is nearly

eliminated by dropping in a vacuum. This procedure restricts

drop tests to two per day, resulting in fewer projects supported in

this facility. However, the relatively long test time and excellent

low-gravity conditions more than compensate for the lower test

throughput rate. In FY 1997, seven major projects were supported

as 130 test drops were executed.

The Drop Tube Facility, located at MSFC, consists of sections

of a 26-cm diameter stainless steel pipe vertically assembled into a

tube of 105 m in length. Completely evacuated of air, the tube can

produce freefall periods of 4.6 seconds. Vacuum levels of less than a

billionth of an atmosphere are achievable. The drop tube is especially useful for high-temperature material processing assays, as well

as experiments in droplet dynamics and engineering tests such as

the ones designed to yield results for the Tethered Satellite Mission.

In FY 1997, six experiments were supported during 351 drops.

Table 11 summarizes activities at ground-based microgravity

research facilities in FY 1997.

Table 11 Use of ground-based low-gravity facilities in FY 1997

Zero Gravity 2.2-Second Drop Tube KC-135 DC-9

Facility Drop Tower Facility

Number of investigations supported 7 30 6 4 38

Number of drops or trajectories 130 1,200 351 223 3,313

Number of flight hours N/A N/A N/A 10.9 180
46

Once again, thousands of elementary and secondary school

teachers attended the 1997 annual meetings of the National

Science Teachers Association, the National Council of Teacher’s

of Mathematics, and the International Technology Education

Association. These educational meetings and conferences provide

NASA with the opportunity to demonstrate new ways to

improve student understanding of the effects of normal and low

gravity and the implications of microgravity research. Over

10,000 each of microgravity science educational posters, teacher’s

guides, mathematics briefs, reduced-gravity demonstrator manuals,

microgravity mission lithographs, and other supplementary 

materials were distributed at the conferences. The number of

teachers requesting to be added to the microgravity education

and outreach mailing list was 1,483, compared to 1,200 last year.

With these new additions, the total number of K–12 teachers on

the mailing list is 3,321 (726 kindergarten and elementary, 826

middle school, 1,473 high school, and 296 other educators.)

The microgravity research centers — the Jet Propulsion

Laboratory (JPL), Lewis Research Center (LeRC), and Marshall

Space Flight Center (MSFC) — also participated in various

regional and national outreach/educational and media activities.

These activities included open houses at JPL and MSFC, where

over 10,000 citizens at each location visited the centers and laboratories to learn, through demonstrations provided by microgravity

scientists and engineers, about the microgravity research being

conducted; the Apple MacWorld Conference, where data acquisition software was used on a Macintosh computer to demonstrate

how an experimental procedure can be controlled and data can

be acquired and displayed remotely using the Internet; television/

radio interviews by local and national networks during the first

Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL–1) mission in July 1997;

newspaper and talk show interviews, including appearances on

“Good Morning America” and “The Phil Donahue Show”; a

tour of a Ford Motor Company plant, where researchers from

LeRC spoke with attendees of the American Institute of

Aeronautics and Astronautics conference about engineering

issues; creation of videos and web sites highlighting microgravity

research; cooperative educational activities with programs such as

the Caltech Precollege Science Initiative (CAPSI), which helped

to develop a middle school science module; and hosting high

school students who were winners of the Space Science Student

Involvement Program competition.

The Microgravity Research Program’s (MRP’s) quarterly

newsletter, Microgravity News, continues to reach thousands of

K–12 teachers, curriculum supervisors, science writers, university

faculty, graduate students, scientists and principal investigators, and

technology developers. Distribution for each newsletter has reached

an all-time high of 9,082 copies, which is an increase of 275 percent.

In addition to individuals receiving the Microgravity News, distribution to public and private associations, corporations, laboratories, and

education resource centers continues to grow. Microgravity News

features articles on experiment results, shuttle missions, science

and technology developments, research funding opportunities,

meetings, collaborations, and microgravity science researchers. 

From a national pool of 35 applicants, 7 graduate students

were selected to receive support for ground-based microgravity

research during 1997–1998 under the Graduate Student Research

Program (GSRP). These selections were made from a pool of

applicants who submitted their research proposals to NASA

headquarters. Each of the microgravity research centers also

selects graduate students who will conduct a portion of their

research at a NASA research facility. All selections were based 

on a competitive evaluation of academic qualifications, proposed

research plans, and the students’ projected use of NASA and/or

other research facilities. The new selections for 1997–1998 have

brought the number of GSRP researchers to 20. When added to

the graduate students working with NASA-funded PIs, the

number of graduate students directly employed in microgravity

research now totals 748.

The MRP’s World Wide Web (WWW) Home Page continues

to provide regular updates on upcoming conferences, microgravityrelated research announcements, enhanced links to microgravity

research centers, educational links, and links to microgravity science

photo/image archives. A list of important microgravity WWW

Internet addresses is presented in Table 12.

The JPL fundamental physics team has remained actively

engaged in reaching out to explain and demonstrate the microgravity program to the community. The following examples illustrate the many ways in which the team continues to demonstrate

a strong commitment to making microgravity research available

and relevant through public outreach, educational involvement,

and cross-discipline participation.

The MIcrogravity Scaling Theory Experiment (MISTE)

project, headed by Principal Investigator Martin Barmatz, of

JPL, participated in the Apple MacWorld Conference in San

Francisco, California, January 7–10, 1997. Labview data acquisition

software was used on a Macintosh computer to demonstrate how

an experimental procedure can be controlled and data can be

acquired and displayed remotely using the Internet. The MISTE

project also had a booth at the conference where a poster was 

displayed and handouts were given to the public describing this

NASA low-temperature microgravity fundamental physics

experiment. The attendance at MacWorld was approximately

70,000 people. The demonstrations proved to be very good examples

of public outreach and demonstrated JPL’s use of advanced technology. Senior Apple executives also witnessed the demonstrations

and actively participated in controlling the experiment. The

conference attendees who saw the demonstrations were favorably

impressed. The MISTE team is following up this conference 

presentation and producing technology development agreements

with National Instruments, the company that markets the

Labview software, as the industrial partner.

JPL introduced students to science by bringing middle school,

high school, and college students into its laboratories. A middle

school honor class toured the low-temperature physics lab building,

and the students and teachers were shown demonstrations of

cryogenic phenomena. The students also visited research sites,

7 Education and Outreach Activities
47

where the goals of several investigations were described by 

JPL scientists.

Members of the Low-Temperature Science and Engineering

group (LTSE) at JPL remain actively involved in outreach activities.

During the past year, several of the group members have taken

cryogenic demonstration kits into grade school classrooms to

show students the behavior of materials at low temperatures. The

LTSE group participated in the JPL Open House in June, and

plans are presently being devised for participation in the Los

Angeles County Fair in September.

A new educational activity began this year in cooperation

with the CAPSI program to develop a middle school science

module. Since our research program explores gravity-related

physical phenomena, the first module will describe how gravity

affects the behavior of fluids. Scientists from JPL will work with

middle school teachers to develop materials that the students will

use in an inquiry-based learning method. Larry Wade is to be

commended for his initiative in contacting the CAPSI organization

to begin this educational pursuit.

The LTSE group also hosted seven college students and one

high school student as summer hires in JPL labs this past summer.

The students worked on computer programs using the Labview

operating system, on designing hardware and lab space organization, and on building magnetostrictive devices for cryogenic

applications. One Caltech student will continue his association

with fundamental physics through a senior thesis studying limits

of time system coordination with various techniques, such as the

Global Positioning System.

Microgravity Data Archiving

MSFC maintains the Microgravity Science Data Archive,

which houses video, photographic, digital, and other data 

products generated during microgravity biotechnology and 

materials science experiments. Information concerning these

experiments and their data products is contained in approximately

75 Experiment Data Management Plans (EDMPs). In addition 

to the EDMPs, further information concerning microgravity

experiments in all microgravity science disciplines resides in the

Microgravity Research Experiments (MICREX) database, which

currently contains over 900 experiment records. In the future it

will be possible to search the MICREX database and the European

Space Agency’s (ESA’s) Microgravity Database simultaneously. In

addition, there are plans to add other international partner databases

to allow access to all existing microgravity databases.

The MSFC photo archive contains approximately 4,500 

photographs. In FY 1997, a subset of over 200 of these images

was digitized and made available through the Microgravity

Research Program WWW site at http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov.

Over 350 videotapes and 16-mm films are cataloged in the MSFC

video archive. 

LeRC has been actively building its archive collection in the

areas of combustion science and fluid physics. Currently, there

are over 710 combustion science papers and over 435 fluid 

physics papers in the archive; a listing of the papers by 

author, along with abstracts from the papers, is available at

http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/MCFEP. In FY 1997, abstracts 

of the papers continued to be added to the LeRC WWW site.

The experiments database currently consists of information from

a number of recent experiments, along with data from a few earlier

missions. This information is contained in an EDMP database

and includes such items as an experiment description; a list 

of publications associated with the experiment; a summary of

experiment results and data; and a listing of videos, photos, and

digital data. In FY 1997, archivists continued gathering data on

fluids and combustion experiments from missions prior to the

first United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML–1). They

also began gathering data from missions after USML–1. Several

of the EDMPs are available on the LeRC web site. The EDMPs

for all fluid physics and combustion science experiments flown

will continue to be collected and added to the LeRC web site in

FY 1998. Photographs from the experiments will also be added 

to the database during FY 1998.
48

Table 12 Important Microgravity WWW Sites

NASA Home Page

Information and links to all NASA centers

http://www.nasa.gov/

Microgravity Research Division Home Page

NASA headquarters’ Microgravity Research Division and

microgravity sites with links to other news and programs and

NASA Research Announcements

http://microgravity.msad.hq.nasa.gov/

Microgravity Research Program Home Page

Information about microgravity research activities with links to

image archives and related science and technology web sites

http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov

Microgravity News

Online issues of Microgravity News, a quarterly newsletter

about the field of microgravity science

http://mgnwww.larc.nasa.gov/

Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) Home Page

Information about MSFC, current shuttle missions, the

International Space Station, and research at MSFC’s labs

http://www.msfc.nasa.gov/

Lewis Research Center (LeRC) Home Page

Information on LeRC, including the work of its Microgravity

Science Division and descriptions of special facilities, such as

the Wind Tunnel Complex, the Propulsion System Laboratory,

and drop towers

http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Homepage

Links to the latest news, status reports, and images from JPL’s

missions, as well as information about the laboratory at JPL

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/

Microgravity Combustion and Fluids Database

Information on microgravity combustion science and fluid

physics experiments

http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/WWW/MCFEP/

Microgravity Research Experiments (MICREX) Database

Information on microgravity experiments with a link to the

European Space Agency (ESA) Microgravity Database

http://otis.msfc.nasa.gov/fame/Fame.html

ESA Microgravity Database

Experiment descriptions, results, diagrams, and video sequences

http://www.esrin.esa.it/htdocs/mgdb/mgdbhome.html

Zero Gravity Research Facility

Description and images of one of the LeRC drop towers

http://zeta.lerc.nasa.gov/facility/zero.htm

Shuttle Flights

Information on all shuttle flights to date

http://www.hq.nasa.gov/osf/shuttle/

Shuttle/Mir Home Page

Description of NASA’s Shuttle/Mir program, including information about collaboration between Russia and the United States

http://shuttle-mir.nasa.gov/

International Space Station

General and detailed information about the development of 

the International Space Station, including recent news, details

of assembly, and images

http://station.nasa.gov/core.html

What Is Microgravity?

The definition of microgravity and how it is achieved

http://www.lerc.nasa.gov/Other_Groups/PAO/microgex.htm

Microgravity and Spaceflight

How microgravity is achieved and the importance of microgravity research

http://microgravity.msad.hq.nasa.gov/aIntro/spaceflight.html

LeRC Microgravity Science Division Educational Information

LeRC microgravity educational activities and links to other

NASA educational sites

http://zeta.lerc.nasa.gov/new/school.htm

NASA Spacelink: A Resource for Educators

NASA education information, materials, and services, including

NASA Educator Resource Centers

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/

Spacelink: Microgravity Teacher’s Guide

Microgravity Teacher’s Guide with physical science activities

for grades 6–12

http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/

NASA.Educational.Products/Microgravity/

Microgravity Meetings and Symposia

Bulletin board of meetings, conferences, and symposia, and 

a list of societies and web sites of interest to the microgravity

science community

http://zeta.lerc.nasa.gov/ugml/ugml.htm
49

Funding for the Microgravity Research Program (MRP) 

in fiscal year (FY) 1997 totaled $134.3 million. This budget

supported a variety of activities, including an extensive 

microgravity research and analysis program; development 

and flight of microgravity shuttle and sounding rocket 

missions; International Space Station (ISS) planning, 

technology, and hardware development; and educational 

outreach. The funding distribution for combined flight 

and ground efforts in the various microgravity research

disciplines is illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 2 presents the funding distribution by microgravity mission. Included in this representation is the research

and analysis element, which supports the ground-based microgravity principal investigators not covered in a missionspecific budget. The multimissions category includes costs 

not identified with a specific mission, such as administration,

the Advanced Technology Development Program, science 

support activities, data management and archiving, National

Institutes of Health cooperative activities, and infrastructure.

The small missions element is the portion of the MRP using 

the space shuttle small payload systems, like the Get Away

Special Program, shuttle middeck experiments, and sounding

rockets. The space station element represents funding for the 

ISS and Mir programs.

The MRP operates through four NASA field centers. 

Figure 3 illustrates the funding distribution among these centers

(and includes NASA headquarters funding for the Microgravity

Research Division). The MRP science discipline authority and

major responsibilities are as follows:

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory — fundamental physics.

• Johnson Space Center — cell and tissue culture portion of 

the biotechnology discipline.

• Lewis Research Center — combustion science, fluid physics, 

and microgravity measurement and analysis.

• Marshall Space Flight Center — biotechnology, materials 

science, and the glovebox program.

Technology development tasks were also funded at each of

the NASA field centers in FY 1997.

Program Resources for FY 1997 8

Figure 1 — FY 1997 microgravity funding 

distribution by science discipline: $134.3 million

Advanced technology

development 2%

Fundamental physics 10%

Combustion

science 24%

Fluid physics

21%

Biotechnology

21%

Materials

science

22%

Figure 3 — FY 1997 microgravity funding distribution by NASA field centers: $134.3 million

Jet Propulsion

Laboratory 11%

Marshall Space 

Fight Center 31%

Johnson

Space Center

12%

Lewis Research 

Center 37%

Langley Research

Center <1%

Microgravity Research Division at NASA headquarters 8%

Figure 2 — FY 1997 microgravity funding distribution by series: $134.3 million

United States Microgravity Payload 2%

Microgravity Science

Payload 4%

United States 

Microgravity 

Laboratory 3%

Research 

and analysis 

24%

Multimissions 31%

Small

missions

11%

ISS,

Mir, Spacelab 

22%

Microgravity Science

Laboratory–1 3%

Life and Microgravity

Spacelab <1%
50
51

For More Information 9

NASA’s goal is to improve the quality of life on Earth by

using ground- and space-based research to promote new scientific

and technological discoveries. The Microgravity Research Program

plays a vital role in our nation’s economic and general health by

carefully selecting, funding, and supporting scientists across the

country. It also serves as an important link in the international

endeavors that are the hallmark of America’s space program,

which is conducting business better, cheaper, and faster through

cooperative ventures and other streamlined practices.

By disseminating knowledge and transferring technology

among private industries, universities, and other government

agencies, NASA’s Microgravity Research Program continues to

build on a foundation of professional success, evidenced by the

number of publications and conferences attended, while reaching

out to encompass the populace at large. Educational outreach and

technology transfer are among the program’s top goals, making

the benefits of NASA’s research available to the American public.

Space shuttle and Mir research missions, as well as experiments

performed in short-duration microgravity facilities, are yielding

new understanding about our world and the universe around us,

while paving the way for long-duration microgravity science on

the International Space Station.

For more information about NASA’s Microgravity Research

Program, use the following contact information:

Microgravity Research Division

NASA Headquarters

300 E Street, S.W.

Washington, DC 20546-0001

Fax: (202) 358-3091

Phone: (202) 358-1490

World Wide Web addresses:

http://microgravity.msad.hq.nasa.gov

http://microgravity.msfc.nasa.gov
52

10 Abbreviations and Acronyms

AADSF . . . . . . . . Advanced Automated Directional 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Solidification Furnace

AC . . . . . . . . . . . alternating current

AIDS . . . . . . . . . . acquired immunodeficiency syndrome 

AMMSA . . . . . . . Alliance for Microgravity Materials Science

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and Applications

ATD . . . . . . . . . . . Advanced Technology Development

BDPU . . . . . . . . . Bubble, Drop, and Particle Unit

BDU . . . . . . . . . . Bioreactor Demonstration Unit

BEC . . . . . . . . . . Bose-Einstein condensation

BIO-3D . . . . . . . . Biochemistry of Three-Dimensional 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Tissue Engineering

BRS . . . . . . . . . . Bioproduct Recovery System

BSTC . . . . . . . . . Biotechnology Specimen Temperature

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Controller

BTF . . . . . . . . . . . Biotechnology Facility

BTR . . . . . . . . . . Biotechnology Refrigerator

BTS . . . . . . . . . . Biotechnology System

CAPSI . . . . . . . . . Caltech Precollege Science Initiative

CHeX . . . . . . . . . Confined Helium Experiment 

CM . . . . . . . . . . . Combustion Module

CoDR . . . . . . . . . concept design review

CPL . . . . . . . . . . . capillary-pumped loop

CSA . . . . . . . . . . Canadian Space Agency

CSLM . . . . . . . . . Coarsening in Solid-Liquid Mixtures

CVX . . . . . . . . . . Critical Viscosity Experiment 

DARTFire . . . . . . Diffusive and Radiative Transport in Fires

DC . . . . . . . . . . . direct current

DCAM . . . . . . . . . Diffusion-Controlled Protein 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crystallization Apparatus for Microgravity

DCE . . . . . . . . . . Droplet Combustion Experiment 

DLR . . . . . . . . . . German Aerospace Research Establishment

DPIMS . . . . . . . . Diffusion Processes in Molten 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . Semiconductors

DYNAMX . . . . . . Critical Dynamics in Microgravity 

EDMP . . . . . . . . . Experiment Data Management Plan

ESA . . . . . . . . . . European Space Agency

EXPRESS . . . . . . EXpedite PRocessing of Experiments 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . to Space Station 

FCF . . . . . . . . . . . Fluids and Combustion Facility

FSDC . . . . . . . . . Fiber-Supported Droplet Combustion

FY . . . . . . . . . . . fiscal year 

GAS . . . . . . . . . . Get Away Special 

GN2 . . . . . . . . . . gaseous nitrogen

GRP . . . . . . . . . . gravitational and relativistic physics

GSFC . . . . . . . . . Goddard Space Flight Center

GSM . . . . . . . . . . Gas Supply Module

GSRP . . . . . . . . . Graduate Student Research Program

HEDS . . . . . . . . . Human Exploration and Development of

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Space 

HIV . . . . . . . . . . . human immunodeficiency virus

HQ . . . . . . . . . . . headquarters

IDGE . . . . . . . . . . Isothermal Dendritic Growth Experiment

IML . . . . . . . . . . . International Microgravity Laboratory

IPCG . . . . . . . . . . Interferometer for Protein Crystal Growth

ISS . . . . . . . . . . . International Space Station

JPL . . . . . . . . . . . Jet Propulsion Laboratory 

JSC . . . . . . . . . . . Johnson Space Center

KSC . . . . . . . . . . Kennedy Space Center

LCAP . . . . . . . . . . laser cooling and atomic physics

LeRC . . . . . . . . . . Lewis Research Center

LIF . . . . . . . . . . . Large Isothermal Furnace

LII . . . . . . . . . . . . laser-induced incandescence

LMD . . . . . . . . . . Liquid Metal Diffusion

LMS . . . . . . . . . . Life and Microgravity Spacelab

LPS . . . . . . . . . . . Liquid-Phase Sintering

LSP . . . . . . . . . . . Laminar Soot Processes 

LTCMP . . . . . . . . low-temperature and condensed matter

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . physics

LTMPF . . . . . . . . Low-Temperature Microgravity Physics 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Facility

LTSE . . . . . . . . . . Low-Temperature Science and 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Engineering

MEPHISTO . . . . . Apparatus for Studying Interesting 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Solidification Phenomena on Earth 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . and in Space

MGBX . . . . . . . . Microgravity Glovebox

MGBX . . . . . . . . Middeck Glovebox

MGMG . . . . . . . . Microgravity Measurements Group
53

MICREX . . . . . . . Microgravity Research Experiments

MIM . . . . . . . . . . Microgravity Isolation Mount

MISTE . . . . . . . . MIcrogravity Scaling Theory Experiment

MMA . . . . . . . . . Microgravity Measurement Assembly

MRD . . . . . . . . . . Microgravity Research Division

MRP . . . . . . . . . . Microgravity Research Program

MRPO . . . . . . . . . Microgravity Research Program Office

MSFC . . . . . . . . . Marshall Space Flight Center

MSG . . . . . . . . . . Microgravity Science Glovebox

MSL . . . . . . . . . . Microgravity Science Laboratory

MSRF . . . . . . . . . Materials Science Research Facility

MSRR . . . . . . . . . Materials Science Research Rack

MW . . . . . . . . . . molecular weight

NIH . . . . . . . . . . . National Institutes of Health 

NRA . . . . . . . . . . NASA Research Announcement

OARE . . . . . . . . . Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment

PCAM . . . . . . . . . Protein Crystallization Apparatus for

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Microgravity 

PD . . . . . . . . . . . Program Development

PI . . . . . . . . . . . . principal investigator

PMMA . . . . . . . . polymethl methacrylate

QSAM . . . . . . . . Quasi-Steady Acceleration Measurement

RDR . . . . . . . . . . requirements definition review

RG . . . . . . . . . . . renormalization group

RSV . . . . . . . . . . Respiratory Syncytial Virus

SAL . . . . . . . . . . . Spread Across Liquids

SAMS . . . . . . . . . Space Acceleration Measurement System

SAMS-FF . . . . . . Space Acceleration Measurement System 

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . for Free Flyers

SCR . . . . . . . . . . science concept review

SOFBALL . . . . . . Structure of Flame Balls at Low Lewis

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Number

SPIE . . . . . . . . . . Society for Photo-Optical Instrumentation

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Engineers 

SQUID . . . . . . . . Superconducting Quantum Interference

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Device

SSFF . . . . . . . . . Space Station Furnace Facility

STAC . . . . . . . . . . Scientific and Technological Advisory

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Council

STDCE . . . . . . . . Surface Tension-Driven Convection

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Experiment

STEP . . . . . . . . . . Satellite Test of the Equivalence Principle

STES . . . . . . . . . Single-Locker Thermal Enclosure System

STS . . . . . . . . . . Space Transporation System

SUE . . . . . . . . . . Superfluid Universality Experiment 

TAS . . . . . . . . . . . True Air Speed

Tc . . . . . . . . . . . . critical temperature 

TEMPUS . . . . . . . Electromagnetic Containerless Processing

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Facility

UCSB . . . . . . . . . University of California, Santa Barbara

UF . . . . . . . . . . . Utilization Flight 

USML . . . . . . . . . United States Microgravity Laboratory

USMP . . . . . . . . . United States Microgravity Payload

VDA . . . . . . . . . . Vapor Diffusion Apparatus

WCI . . . . . . . . . . Wetting Characteristics of Immiscibles

WWW . . . . . . . . World Wide Web

Zeno . . . . . . . . . . Critical Fluid Light Scattering

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Experiment